ships on orbit

Yeah, 16 ships is the max # a star system can hold.

~SDC~

who knew the vast outer reaches of space...weren't...

There isn't a limit of ships outside of the planetary orbit, though (Stacked Ship List). Orbits are limited to make the game less agrivating. Imagine reaching an enemy planet with your transport fleet opnly to discover the AI's been hoarding 100 defenders at it's doorstep (or some situation like that). I personally would be like "OK game, you've pissed me off." and stop playing out of frustration (but then, I'm not a very Patient gamer ;)). I'm sure we could up that number...we'll jsut have to see what others say on the matter.

~SDC~

Is it possible to tell how many ships are in a planetary orbit, say, before you lauch an attack?

Good question. And along the same lines, let me broaden the question.

Scanners? Are they used in the game?

Can you see opponent fleets "in orbit" at other stars?

Can you see opponent fleets "in warp transit in deep space"?

Can you see the composition of those fleets?

Well, like in the real world, we want to be conquerers but it IS nice to know in advance if we can kick ass Unless they are cloaked of course. What I should immediately after I had researched it. Nothing better than a good surprise for those who want to take MY EMPIRE.

Why should a star with 1 planet have the same limit as a star with 5 populated planets? Each planet should support upto 16 ships in orbit. 80 ships defending 5 planets would be a glorious battle.

Unless the ships are not really in planetary orbit but actually on interstellar patrol. Each star can have upto 16 ships on patrol.

I think this is a situation where realism has to take a back seat to game mechanics. Minor races do nothing but churn out useless ships. It would really inconvenient to take one Overlord into a star system with four planets, and have to attack every turn for a year to destroy the countless, worthless star fighters they have amassed. Maybe if group fighting worked by having a ship destroy a certain number of hit points, and applying that to the ships (altered based on theri attack/defense, etc.) in the group, it would work to have an unlimited (or at least much higher) number of ships in orbit. That is a different issue, though!

-Dave

~SDC~

Actually, I like Ted's idea to have the number of allowable ships in orbit based on, perhaps, the number of planets, or the population of the entire system. A large system should be able to be better defended.

Not sure what you mean by "minor" races, since I don't have the game, but if they are like the magnate, non-player races in MOO3, then I'd have to say that they shouldn't be allowed to build mass numbers of ships anyway, since they have small roles in the game.

Just my two cents worth.

Minor races just can't expand out of their home sector... but they can defend that sector rather well if they recieve a high enough intelligence level...