Drop? garrison? carrier loss question

right, sorry I have limited code reading ablility.
so having one carrier collect all of a stars garrison will likely avoid the majority of carrier losses.

so for example, multiple defending carriers for player 1 are arriving at a star controlled.by player 1,
call these carriers X Y and Z all of them have 15 ships.
there are NO ships garrisoned to the star.
they arrive at the same time as single attacking carrier from player 2 who has 20 ships.
P1 has ordered X and Y to drop all ships, and Z to collect all.
XYZ successfully defends the planet by a comfortable margin and the attacking fleet has done 17 ships of damage.

are P1 carrier losses calculated against a single fleet of 45 ships, resulting in no carrier loss.
or is it calculated against 3 fleets of 15 resulting in a single carrier loss
or did the drop commands for X+Y garrison the star with 28 ships leaving Z fleet fighting with 15 ships and XY with 1 ship each resulting in the destruction of all 3?

So using the combat calculator
defender has 45 ships and what weapons ? weapons 10 or less than or equal to weapons 20 ?
attacker has 20 ships and what weapons ? weapons 17 ?

give me a few minutes and let me read Jay’s code. . . .

I think that occurs after combat, not before.

well in the combat i posted the battle report showed the two carriers as only having 1 ship and 1 ship lost.
so the drop all function had occured, whether the report is generated after the combat or after the transfers I dont know

If I am reading and understanding Jay’s code correctly, then
carrier X loses 6 ships, becomes 9 ships
carrier Y loses 6 ships, becomes 9 ships
carrier Z loses 5 ships, becomes 10 ships

EDIT : In this case, all three carriers survive the combat.

so the largest carrier receives damage in the first firing round, cycling to the next largest carrier on the second firing round? .

does the code calculate carrier loss during the combat or after the moves?

I assume that in the portion of code that Jay has not revealed, he sorts fleets largest carrier or garrison to smallest carrier or garrison.

Then he has two rounds of damage distribution against the combat winner.

The first round from largest carrier or garrison to smallest carrier or garrison, damage is distributed proportionally round down.

The second round of damage distribution is to solve the problem of that small leftover sum of fractional damaged ships not yet distributed, so he cycles through the fleets deducting 1 ship per fleet until all remaining damage is allocated.

Optimization suggestion for @JayKyburz , not urgent, I think distributing damage from smallest fleet to largest round normal can eliminate that second damage distribution loop. The final largest carrier or garrison absorbs all remaining damage. . . .EDIT : well maybe this is not a good idea ? It could still run into the situation, when undistributed damage is a small number, requiring that second loop ? . . . EDIT : well I was thinking of something like 97 % - 99 % damage, so this idea should still work. . . . EDIT : I think you still need that second loop for safety net catch all just in case, but it is unlikely to run often, because the first loop should be able to distribute most of the damage nearly all the time.

combat phase is after movement phase.

so is carrier loss part of that combat phase?

carrier loss is not part of movement phase.

There is no difference between the two situations.

  1. The star is owned, in which case he is the defender
  2. The star is unowned, in which case the nearest player gets ownership and you proceed as choice 1.

All battles must have a single star owner. Each star will only have a single battle with a single winner. The winner takes control of the star until the next game tick (in game hour).

For questions about the turn order please read the FAQ in-game. It’s listed under [Help][FAQ]What order do things happen each game tick?

@JayKyburz , that clears things up! Thanks :smile:

thats incorrect. in the new allied combat system notes,
if two enemies A and B arrive at the same time on a star owned by player C
they become a team, collectively battling player C
if victorious, the largest of the two players by fleet size, A or B, then gains control of the star,
and a second combat then occurs between them.

Wow, hmm, okay. Guess I need to brush up on how combat works.

If owner ship still passes to the nearest of the three players like it used to then it would make sense to arrive third. Otherwise you arrive first, gain ownership and fight against the two other players temporary alliance.

that applies only to an unclaimed star.
so if A B and C all arrived on an unclaimed star, shortest distance gets defence, then the other two battle him collectively.

OH just be a big bad galactic overlord, and arrive with enough ships to atomize all enemies !!! MUHAHAHAH !!!

:slight_smile: well thats always the goal, but early victories are sometimes nickel and dime transactions!

I remember a game when i was so map locked with only one route to one enemy in a 20 person turn based game that I ended up throwing down a warpgate on my homestar with my 500$ starting cash, which is just INSANITY
ended up on his homeworld in 4 cycles. because he sent all his ships out in all directions and i sent them all at him in a rampage, its was still a margin of only 4 or 5 ships though.

Okay, just had a quick look at the code and think I can answer every question here. If I miss one please ask succinctly and I will edit this post only.

  1. If a star is unowned the closest player gains ownership for the battle.
  2. The carriers are split into two groups, Attackers and Defenders. Anyone at-war with the star owner is an Attacker.
  3. The entire group shares a single Weapon level. This is the highest out of the group players.
  4. Damage is applied roughly evenly across the entire group. Rounding will mean large fleets get slightly more damage.
  5. It’s best to spread your ships across carriers. Even keeping 2-3 ships in a carrier will greatly improve survivability.
  6. Star garrison is treated exactly the same as a fleet.
  7. If there is a battle the player with the most ships left will gain ownership.
2 Likes

thats excellent, very clear.

and those mechanics have HUGE strategy implications.
if you are a player with a lower weapons level, and notice player A going in for an attack on player B that is unlikely to be succesful
if you can arrive at the same time with a fleet larger than player A, youll fight with a higher weapons level against B, sustaining less initial losses, dislodge a player you didnt have the strength to defeat alone and then you most likely gain defence advantage over A
who now has a smaller fleet.

that could be a huge Coup de’tat for an underdog player in the right place at the right time sniping a key star.
both on a diplomatic and pure numbers basis.

It could happen, but not often.

What happen after that is important too.
Can you take advantage of this temporary gain ? make it permanent ?

Or will you lose this star against the next bigger fish ?

True, but it will never happen if players dont have a very clear understanding of the mechanics.
because if theyre unsure, they wont risk it as an underdog.

im a fairly rogue player, and will try alot more unorthodox plans and unexpected moves,
but usually based on a solid numbers and mechanics basis.

like I said, a key star, at the right moment, ive made some big advantageous deals out of pretty small fries!

it might draw more of their ships off from another flank to dislodge you, relieving pressure somewhere else or opening up other opportunities if they overreact.

maybe you can make out like its a coordinated attack and that youre in a secret alliance.

maybe you just trade it as a diplomatic favour or for a sneaky tech upgrade they would never agree to in exchange for abandonment,

maybe you do it for a juicy Econ salvage

or maybe just for the enjoyment of being a prick in everyones ass before you get ganked :slight_smile: