This thread will cover most of the bigger changes for this round.
Feel free to ask questions / post additional vital explanations you want to share.
I know it's a bit late, sorry
This round, Research, Construction and Production are all calculated "tick by tick".
Firstly, Research, Construction and Population - they're more simple!
##########################
RESEARCH
##########################
Each race has a certain amount of "Research Points". These are 100,120,85,100 and 100 (for Ter,Cath,Xan,Zik and Etd).
Each tick, the planet "researches" this amount, plus a bonus based on research labs and population and government bonuses.
This is the "base" number above, multiplied by the bonuses as follows:
Amount researched = base_number*(1+(% population researchers + %constructions research labs + %government bonus)/100)
The %construction research labs is the % of constructions already built that are research labs. It has a maximum limit of 20%, and does not include constructions being queued or currently being constructed.
As the % of research labs changes and the % of population changes, the research output changes tick by tick. If you alter the population in the middle of a research, this affects the research output and therefore the rate at which you research.
It's now possible to pause researches and continue other ones. Also, any research points "left over" after you've finished one research will carry on to the next research.
These points are signified in the brackets when researching:
This research is 25% complete. 300(0)/1200
##########################
CONSTRUCTION
##########################
This is similar to Research.
The base construction output is 130,90,115,100,115 (for Ter,Cath,Xan,Zik and Etd).
Each tick the planet "constructs" this amount. ALL constructions are 1000 Construction Units, and all constructions are 1000*number_of_current_constructions of each resource.
The output is given by:
Amount constructed = base_number*(1+(% population construction workers + %government bonus)/100).
Again, the left over amount "rolls over" to the next construction, and any changes to the construction workers or setting of a government has an IMMEDIATE effect.
You can also pause constructions like you can pause researches. This allows you to, for example, "almost" construct a factory and then leave it safe, incase you have a factory knocked out.
EDIT: Apparently, you can't pause constructions. I'm wrong
#########################
POPULATION
#########################
Population can now be changed at any time. This allows for more dynamic options. As a general note, security doesn't have any affect within the tick, but increases the maximum alert level (and the rate at which you rate it) each tick.
#########################
PRODUCTION
#########################
Unargably, the most controversial of the changes.
When an order is placed, a certain amount of "production units" are calculated for it. The more resources, the bigger the amount of production units.
This is split up into three sections - one for the light factory ships, one for the medium factory ships, and one for the heavy factory ships.
When an order is being placed, you can choose to allocate factories to it, or to add it to an already open order.
There is no longer any limit on the number of concurrent orders. However, each order has to be supported by one or more factories.
An order is NOT COMPLETE until ALL ships have been completed.
The more factories on an order, the quicker the order is completed. Population, government and race bonuses also help with this.
The formulae are in the manual but in general not much use for the average player to analyse. As you add the resources and factories, the production page automatically calculates the amount of time taken to produce an order. This is FAR MORE predictable than earlier versions of this system.
We will also place a page up in the near future where you can input settings and test to see what production times you get. In general the production times are between 6-20 ticks, depending on the size of the order and population, race, government and factory variables.
If all your factories of a particular type are blown up, the order is paused until it can be completed.
#######################
SCANS
#######################
The scans page has been largely recoded. The format of the planet scan has changed slightly (
Edit: Example here).There are also some new features. These include alliance scanners being able to scan up to a whole galaxy at once, and the ability to group scans together.
The grouping of scans allows several scans to be displayed on one page. The [scan][/scan] tags have also been emphasised, as they allow you to easily link other people to your scans on the forums and in pa-mails instead of pasting whole addresses.
######################
MISC
######################
Structure killers can now only kill 5% of structures on a planet in any tick.
Threaded Mode