| PP Packet terraforming |
Tue, 28 September 2004 02:37  |
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I am playing my first multiplayer PP game.
I know this is possible on planets i own in some way. Launch a particular packet against a world i have that cannot catch. I lose some pop, but gain a good chance of positiive terraforming.
I have a few question though..
1) Do you have to own the planet to terraform it?
2) Can the planet still have a catching mass driver, but one that isnt rated for the speed being sent at it?
3) Which mineral type of packet affects which of the ranges for hab? Germ = Rad? Bor = Temp? Iron = Grav?
4) What is the optimum speeds/risks for launching these packets at my poor likkle worlds.
Thanks
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| Re: PP Packet terraforming - 10 rules |
Tue, 28 September 2004 06:54  |
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I love playing PP - get to the late game and you can kill anything with some minerals. So, the rules to know:
1. You MUST have ARM - those minerals have to come from somewhere.
2. Minerals that actually hit a planet have a 50% chance of 1% terraforming per 100kt. (there is also a chance that you will modify the base level of any of the 3 variables in your favor)
3. Minerals that HIT a planet, can terraform ANY planet - however, minerals do not terraform planets like CA orbitals - minerals terraform planets to YOUR optimum terraforming. This may kill some of your enemy when the packet hits but, may also give him some free terraforming if the percentage that you prefer also happens to be a percentage that he prefers.
4. You can colonize a planet the same year your packet hits it - packets hit before waypoint one tasks - i.e. do NOT give a colonizer in ORBIT of a planet colonize orders if a packet is going to hit - only give an arriving colonizer colonize orders on arrival.
5. Don't throw packets at your own planets unless you are sending minerals to another mass driver at that planet. The packet will kill your people just as it would your enemy.
6. As a PP, your packets decay less when overthrown. Check on how many kt's of minerals will hit using a packet calculator - use a plan of around 210 kt's hitting a planet per percentage you want to terraform - you may tf 2% or even 3% and you will most likely tf 1%. When you land you will have some minerals of that type on the surface.
7. Iron terraforms gravity, boranium terraforms temperature and germanium terraforms radiation - seriously work on a radiation immune race design - you don't want to be using germanium for terraforming - you need it early on for your factories to get your resource counts up. Don't take energy expensive - you need energy research for better mass drivers.
8. TIP: hide your PRT as long as possible. Make the other players think you are anything other than PP by re-building your orbital fort on your second planet with a f
...
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| Re: PP Packet terraforming - 10 rules |
Tue, 28 September 2004 12:25 |
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| Ptolemy wrote on Tue, 28 September 2004 11:54 |
and a warp 15 or 16 packet will hit so fast enemies can't stop them
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Am I right in thinking that any planet under 384 ly (16 * 16 * 1.5) won't be able to build anything to stop a warp 16 packet ?
Also, I found to my cost last game that if someone can hit you with 2 big packets in 1 turn then the 1st will take out the defences and the 2nd will wipe out the population.
So any planet within 384ly of two late game PP planets cannot hope to survive unless they have a lot of freighters permenantly parked at the intercept points.
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| Re: PP Packet terraforming - 10 rules |
Tue, 28 September 2004 13:11 |
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 LEit |
 | Lt. Commander |
Messages: 879
Registered: April 2003
Location: CT | |
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There are 3 PRTs that arn't as worried by packets:
AR: Immune to packets
PP: Can build the same drivers, w16 vs w13 drivers is still going to be painful, but it makes it much more expensive then just blasting past w10 drivers.
IS: "Oh, no, you just killed my world! Now I'll have to drop another 3 million on the surface..." A late game IS won't care much about pop losses, and can build 100 defenses, a driver, and a gate in one turn even on a world without factories. Of course you shouldn't fire packets just to kill worlds, there should be fleet backup. But on the defensive, packets can slow the enemy a lot by getting cheap kills of border worlds and denying the offensive fleet bases to gate in reinforcements.
- LEitReport message to a moderator
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| Re: PP Packet terraforming - 10 rules |
Tue, 13 September 2005 09:35 |
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Let's keep this simple as stated by the Stars! help file:
"Planets receiving mass packets have a 50% chance of a 1% improvement (terraforming) in an environmental attribute. For every 100kt of a mineral not caught, there is also a 0.1% chance of the overall planet value improving by 1%"
To summerize, it isn't very easy to hit that 0.1% chance since a 1000kt packet will only give you 10 shots at it - or at best improve the chance to 1 in 100 (1%)
Ptolemy
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| Re: PP Packet terraforming - 10 rules |
Tue, 13 September 2005 14:21 |
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The simple fact of the matter is that there is only one way to send multiple packets from a starbase and that is to change the starbase design between packets in the production queue. Therefore, it is not exactly an easy task to hit a planet with multiple packets in the same turn. Keep in mind also that PP packets are 70kt, not 100kt.
Ptolemy
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| Re: PP Packet terraforming - 10 rules |
Tue, 13 September 2005 21:12 |
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Rather an extremely large waste of minerals
Ptolemy
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| Re: PP Packet terraforming - 10 rules |
Wed, 14 September 2005 05:47 |
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| mazda |
 | Lieutenant |
Messages: 655
Registered: April 2003
Location: Reading, UK | |
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| Ptolemy wrote on Tue, 13 September 2005 19:21 |
The simple fact of the matter is that there is only one way to send multiple packets from a starbase and that is to change the starbase design between packets in the production queue. Therefore, it is not exactly an easy task to hit a planet with multiple packets in the same turn.
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I suppose you saw the phrase "lots of small packets" and just had to wade in. 
Where is it stated that to do terraforming that all packets have to come from the same base, or all in the same turn ?
For a planet inside your own empire it is a piece of cake to hit it with multiple packets on the same turn. But as that isn't required for terraforming anyway then we don't really care.
All we're trying to do is to get to the bottom of the actual mechanics, because I (and Dyrham) still have questions that it seems nobody can answer (except probably LEit).
e.g. What is the minimum packet needed to have a chance of permanent terraforming ?
For that minimum size, are the odds per kT better than using a large packet (or better than 1 click per 2000kT) ?
Does 1100kT have the same effect as 2000kT, or does 1900kT have the same effect as 1000kT, or neither ?
Anyway, it will be my pleasure to test to my fill at the weekend.
Whereupon I will probably find I've wasted my time. 
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| Re: PP Packet terraforming - 10 rules |
Wed, 14 September 2005 07:24 |
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| Quote: |
e.g. What is the minimum packet needed to have a chance of permanent terraforming ?
For that minimum size, are the odds per kT better than using a large packet (or better than 1 click per 2000kT) ?
Does 1100kT have the same effect as 2000kT, or does 1900kT have the same effect as 1000kT, or neither ?
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1. the minimum packet that can terraform is 1kt. The odds are better with 100kt BUT, the odds of permanent terraforming are small anyway.
2. if a packet terraforms, it doesn't permanent terraform the same value.
3. I have found that by hitting a planet with 210kt of a given mineral rarely fails to terraform 1% click of the associated variable. That being said, permanent terraforming doesn't happen very often.
Ptolemy
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Re: PP Packet terraforming - 10 rules
Re: PP Packet terraforming - 10 rules