Supply sat

Interesting idea. Have you checked if the sats will transfer excess supplies automatically, or is the way you described the only way to use their production?

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A project a day keeps the deadline away.

It doesn't transfer cargo automatically.

Ive been using this method for a long time. Another variation of this method would be to build on tiny planets just a shipyard, then build a resupply base (filled with supply storages and solar panels. It can save a lot of space and can refuel a lot of ships.

I wish there was a component for ships/bases sats that allows to resupply ships in the same sector with a small ammount of supplies, this way we can have actual resupply depots even in the middle of a nebula.

double post

I usually make my sensor dedicated sats crammed full, such as a lvl 3 sm sat with a basic sensor, a tachyon scanner, and a long range scanner, plus armor, sometimes going for stealth armor, or less armor and ECM.
For my lvl 3 lg sats, I also toss in a 25kt weapon (lg mt 20kt weapon), a 20kt PD weapon, supply storage, a solar collector or quantum reactor, a phased shield generator, ECM, combat sensor, and either 6x armor or 1x stealth armor.
That makes them able to defend themselves and hard to find.

My supply sats aren't so good for spotting stealthy ships, but can be a pain in the butt for enemies if they attack them.
1x sat comp
1x basic sensor
2x solar collecter or quantum reactors
4x supply storage
1x ordnance vat (I love organic tech, otherwise add in another solar collector or quantum reactor)
1x lg mt 20kt gun
1x 20kt pd weapon
1x phase shield generator
1x stealth armor or stealth totem
1x armor
1x ECM
1x combat sensor.

As for the idea of having bases as supply depots in nebulas, it's a neat idea. Perhaps a 100kt component that has a mixture of storage and generation for both supplies and ordnance, perhaps a base of each of generating 100 supplies/ordnance +10 per each additional level, plus have storage equal to 5-10 timees that amount.
Maybe have no generation capability and make an ordnance generating component, one that is less effective than the organic version (either less effective, or as effective but 50-100% heavier), and just have the supply distrubution component have storage and distrubution capabilities, perhaps with the option to turn distribution on and off.

I've been using Supply Sats since I started playing, I normally place in deep space sectors to give my ships nearby supply points. The best thing to do is place in a trinary system or a binary system set in the middle of an opponents empire. I usually place in a nebulae or asteroid cluster to help avoid detection. They won't work in a nebulae system, as there is no star (if your using solar panels) to draw supplies from. Also good to place on the other side of a black hole to keep your ships from having to cross back and forth.

One particuarly insiduous trick if you're worried more about performance than cost is to simply build a satellite chock full of supply storage and solars if you want 'em, then put it in a freighter with a satellite pod (All my freighters have a sattelite pod and a minelayer, so they can pull double duty in such tasks out of combat), along with plain basic scanner sats. Then you send them off to explore - dropping scout satellites to provide lasting recon coverage of the systems as you go, and when the freigher runs dry? Unload your last supply sat, suck it dry, and head onwards yet further.
...And by the time the next ship goes past, the sattelite will have refueled itself.

Don't get too carried away on stuff-in-your-sats, though - the beauty of a 'naked' scanner satellite is that it's worth only a little over 300 minerals, generally - you can put one in the first build que of a planet, and spit it out and a 1500 mineral facility in the same turn.

Good point, also by keeping the construction cost down, you can afford to have numerous sats scattered throughout the galaxy without creating too much maintenance cost.

Exactly. My current sattelites (Which are approximately Sensor 3 or 4) cost me under 30 minerals per turn in maintinence, and the rest of the figures are single digit.

Given that three of them can be used to cover more or less an entire system (Or at least all the importaint bits anyway ), I call this a pretty good deal.

I've created a component that transferes supplies from whatever its on to all ships in the same sector.
It still needs to be tweaked and its using the Solar Collector graphic (copied:p). but it works. your ships have to be sitting on whatever unit is carrying the component and at the end of your turn it will transfer supplies from its storage to whatever ships are sitting on it.
I only made it for supply but a few extra lines and you could have it transfer ordinance as well. useful for having resupply ships automatically keep your fleets filled up. (without having them in the same fleet)
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Name := Resupply Coupling
Description := Transfer's Supplies to other Ships.
Picture Number := 48
Maximum Level := 30
Tonnage Space Taken Formula := 5
Tonnage Structure Formula := 5 + (([%Level%] - 1) * 5)
Cost Minerals Formula := 400 + (([%Level%] - 1) * 4)
Cost Organics Formula := 0
Cost Radioactives Formula := 200 + (([%Level%] - 1) * 2)
Supply Amount Used Formula := 1000 + (([%Level%] - 1) * 100)
Ordnance Amount Used Formula := 0
Can Be Placed On Vehicle Types := Ship, Base, Satellite
Can Be Placed In Ship Sections := Outer Hull
Component Type List := Technological
General Group := Supply & Ordnance
Custom Group := 0
Number Of Requirements := 1
Requirements Evaluation Availability := AND
Requirements Evaluation Allows Placement := TRUE
Requirements Evaluation Allows Usage := TRUE
Requirement 1 Description := Empire must have at least tech level 1 in Resupply.
Requirement 1 Formula := Get_Empire_Tech_Level("Resupply") >= (1 + ([%Level%] - 1))
Number Of Abilities := 1
Ability 1 Type := Remote Supply Distribution
Ability 1 Description := Transferes [%Amount1%] supplies to other ships in the same sector.
Ability 1 Scope := Sector - This Player
Ability 1 Range Formula := 0
Ability 1 Amount 1 Formula := 1000 + (([%Level%] - 1) * 100)
Ability 1 Amount 2 Formula := 0
Weapon Type := None

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok here's one for Ordnance as well as the revised one for Supply.
i can't find a way to combine them properly. If combined they USE ordnance/supply even if not transfering any.
maybe someone else can figure it out

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name := Ordnance Coupling
Description := Transfer's Ordnance to other Ships.
Picture Number := 48
Maximum Level := 30
Tonnage Space Taken Formula := 5
Tonnage Structure Formula := 5 + (([%Level%] - 1) * 5)
Cost Minerals Formula := 400 + (([%Level%] - 1) * 4)
Cost Organics Formula := 0
Cost Radioactives Formula := 200 + (([%Level%] - 1) * 2)
Supply Amount Used Formula := 0
Ordnance Amount Used Formula := 500 + (([%Level%]) * 50)
Can Be Placed On Vehicle Types := Ship, Base, Satellite
Can Be Placed In Ship Sections := Outer Hull
Component Type List := Technological
General Group := Supply & Ordnance
Custom Group := 0
Number Of Requirements := 1
Requirements Evaluation Availability := AND
Requirements Evaluation Allows Placement := TRUE
Requirements Evaluation Allows Usage := TRUE
Requirement 1 Description := Empire must have at least tech level 1 in Resupply.
Requirement 1 Formula := Get_Empire_Tech_Level("Resupply") >= (1 + ([%Level%] - 1))
Number Of Abilities := 1
Ability 1 Type := Remote Ordnance Distribution
Ability 1 Description := Transferes [%Amount1%] Ordnance to other ships in the same sector.
Ability 1 Scope := Sector - This Player
Ability 1 Range Formula := 0
Ability 1 Amount 1 Formula := 500 + (([%Level%]) * 50)
Ability 1 Amount 2 Formula := 0
Weapon Type := None

Name := Supply Coupling
Description := Transfer's Supplies to other Ships.
Picture Number := 48
Maximum Level := 30
Tonnage Space Taken Formula := 5
Tonnage Structure Formula := 5 + (([%Level%] - 1) * 5)
Cost Minerals Formula := 400 + (([%Level%] - 1) * 4)
Cost Organics Formula := 0
Cost Radioactives Formula := 200 + (([%Level%] - 1) * 2)
Supply Amount Used Formula := 1000 + (([%Level%]) * 100)
Ordnance Amount Used Formula := 0
Can Be Placed On Vehicle Types := Ship, Base, Satellite
Can Be Placed In Ship Sections := Outer Hull
Component Type List := Technological
General Group := Supply & Ordnance
Custom Group := 0
Number Of Requirements := 1
Requirements Evaluation Availability := AND
Requirements Evaluation Allows Placement := TRUE
Requirements Evaluation Allows Usage := TRUE
Requirement 1 Description := Empire must have at least tech level 1 in Resupply.
Requirement 1 Formula := Get_Empire_Tech_Level("Resupply") >= (1 + ([%Level%] - 1))
Number Of Abilities := 1
Ability 1 Type := Remote Supply Distribution
Ability 1 Description := Transferes [%Amount1%] Supplies to other ships in the same sector.
Ability 1 Scope := Sector - This Player
Ability 1 Range Formula := 0
Ability 1 Amount 1 Formula := 1000 + (([%Level%]) * 100)
Ability 1 Amount 2 Formula := 0
Weapon Type := None
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That looks awesome. I'll have to check it works proper, if so I may nick it for my mod (with permission)? And I'll see if I can't cobble together a vaugely passable graphic. Maybe, anyway - that one is a bit trickier.
Though, if you're up for balance nitpicks, a thousand resources transferred per ship per turn is relatively small, given the amount of supplies a lot of ships store and burn through. And given you can do this from a cargo menu, it may be useful to up the transfer rate.

Ya that was just my working copy. feel free to use it/change it. i just posted it because i was tinkering and discovered it works.
i didn't go over 1000 because it has to USE supplies to work right? to make it as a transfer and not just generation of supplies, it has to USE supplies on whatever ship its on and GENERATE supplies for whatever ship its transferring to. I decided to keep it small because i wasn't sure if it would work properly with larger numbers... like 9999999
it does transfer X amount of supplies to ALL ships in the sector. so it will refuel an entire fleet in one turn taking the correct amount of its own storage.
you can also make it SYSTEM wide... change the line

Ability 1 Scope := Sector - This Player

to

Ability 1 Scope := System - This Player

then it works like the Resupply Depot.

Hm. That's quite... scary, really. Will it still only use 1000 resources, to refuel 5 ships of 1000 each? And does it only refuel on the end of the turn, or can it work like a planetary pickup, where a ship flying overhead will top off their tank on the way past?

sadly it doesn't work like planetary pick-up.
only end of turn.
and no.. it uses the proper amount of supplies... so say you bring in 6 ships.. it gives each 1000 supply and uses 6000 from its own supply.

see what i've done is put 2 on my Supply satellites. Supply satellites having Solar Collectors and Supply Storage. then i launch a group of 10 satellites. thats 20,000 supply (at max level its 40,000) to EACH ship thats in the sector at the END of the turn. its good for deep space where you have no planets because the satellite group regenerates supply. you can keep a fleet going in deep space, no problem.
Now this is just for my own personal use. instead of having to go in and click through each ship, transfering supply, it does it automatically for me at the end of the turn... as someone else posted they wanted a component to do so. if you don't like it, don't use it... or change it. i don't care. you guys asked for a compenent that would transfer supplies and here it is. and it works. you can mod it all you want.

PS
to make it work properly (as a transfer point and not GENERATOR for supply) the lines

Supply Amount Used Formula :=

and

Ability 1 Amount 1 Formula :=

have to have the SAME formula.

Clever. Very clever indeed.

I assume if you make a sattelite that distributes 10,000 supply per turn, but a ship requires only 7000, the satellite wastes the remaining 3000?