Aurora is on version 2.5.0 C#, available at the Aurora Forums.
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C-Auto-Assignment
Commanders
Ground Force Commanders
Auto Assignment
The VB6 concept of 'tour length' does not exist in C# Aurora, so there will no longer be mass-reassignments every couple of years. Date 02.09.2017
The Formation Template list has an additional column for Rank. A default rank will be suggested by the program, although this can be overridden by the player. This rank will be used by Automated Assignment process for any Formations built using this Formation Template. 21.02.2018
Death & Retirement
In C# Aurora, the rules for accidental death and commander health remain as they are in VB6 Aurora.
Retirements are handled differently. The chance of the retirement occurring is 20% for each year beyond the minimum retirement date. This is doubled if the commander has no assignment. Each increment the chance is checked using: (Increment Length / One Year) * Retirement Chance.
For ground forces commanders the minimum retirement is 20 years for the minimum rank. For other ranks it is equal to 20, plus 5 years for every level of rank above the minimum.
The removal of officers after six years with no command will no longer happen. Instead, C# should have a more realistic progression because of the different mechanics. Firstly, inactive or low ranked commanders will tend to retire relatively early, which will keep overall officer numbers down and open up their commands (if one exists) for new assignments. Date 02.09.2017
Auto Assignment
Basics
For auto-assignment purposes, each ship class now has a specific rank requirement for its commander, based on its command and control modules. The rank requirement for the XO, CAG and Science Officer is one lower than for the ship commander. The rank requirement for the Chief Engineer and Tactical Office is two lower than the ship commander. The rank requirement for a fleet commander is one higher than for the ship commander. You can manually assign higher-ranked ship commanders and fleet commanders if desired but other officers can only be assigned at the specified rank. The commander priority setting for each class of ship remains as before and is still set manually. It also applies to the other officer types as well.
Auto-assignment will work in the following sort order:
- 1) Class Priority
- 2) Survey Ships by descending size (Survey Bonus)
- 3) Warships by descending PPV (Crew Training Bonus)
- 4) Unarmed Military Ships by descending size (Crew Training Bonus)
- 5) Construction Ships by descending construction speed (Production Bonus)
- 6) Terraformers by descending terraforming capacity (Terraforming Bonus)
- 7) Sorium Harvesters by descending harvesting capacity (Mining Bonus)
- 8) Asteroid Miners by descending mining capacity (Mining Bonus)
- 9) Salvage Ships by descending salvage capacity (Production Bonus)
- 10) All other ships (primarily freighters and colony ships) by descending size (Logistics Bonus)
Ship commanders will be assigned first (checking every category above), followed by executive officers, science officers, air group commanders, chief engineers and tactical officers. The ships will cycle through in priority order and commanders will be assigned if they meet the criteria for the ship type (correct rank and suitable bonus).
These changes should make ship design more interesting, create better histories for commanders (as they progress through different roles) and provide lots of potential roles for the junior commanders. Date 07.12.2018; Date 03.09.2017
The ships are cycled through in that order, searching the available commanders (which is any unassigned commander or any commander assigned to a non-command position on a ship) for a suitable match for each ship. A suitable commander must have the primary bonus for the ship or they will not be assigned. In C# Aurora, unassigned commanders still have a small chance of gaining experience, including new bonuses, so they may be assigned in the future even if they currently do not have a suitable bonus.
Bear in mind that all of the above is secondary to the priority given to each class by the player, so if you want a particular type of ship to get the best commanders assigned, give it a high priority.
After ship commanders are assigned, the non-command positions are assigned. Ships must have the appropriate command module for each non-command position in order for a commander to be assigned and the commander must have the required bonus. For each of the non-command positions (in the order below), the ships with an available position are ordered using the same rules as above, including the player priority. The positions and requirements are as follows:
- Executive Officer (Command Module: Auxiliary Control; Bonus: Crew Training)
- Science Officer (Command Module: Science Department; Bonus: Survey)
- Commander, Air Group (Command Module: Primary Flight Control; Bonus: Fighter Operations)
- Chief Engineer (Command Module: Main Engineering; Bonus: Engineering)
- Tactical Officer (Command Module: CIC; Bonus: Tactical)
The VB6 concept of 'tour length' does not exist in C# Aurora, so there will no longer be mass-reassignments every couple of years. In addition, the removal of officers after six years with no command will no longer happen. Instead, C# should have a more realistic progression because of the different mechanics. Firstly, inactive or low ranked commanders will tend to retire relatively early, which will keep overall officer numbers down and open up their commands (if one exists) for new assignments. Secondly, ships can potentially have multiple officers, which creates many more assignments. Thirdly, each ship (or other officer position) can only be assigned to an officer of a specific rank. As soon as that officer is promoted, he has to leave that position, which opens it up for another officer. Finally, naval officers in non-command positions (XO, Tactical Officer, CAG, Chief Engineer, Science Officer), will be automatically assigned to any ship command position that becomes available, assuming they have suitable bonuses, opening up their previous role. Date 02.09.2017
Minimum Commander Ranks
Ship commander ranks are based on the following rules:
- 1) Assume lowest rank if none of the following conditions exist. Otherwise use the highest applicable rank for any condition.
- 2) Lowest rank + 1 for any ship class equipped with any of the following: Geological or Gravitational Sensors, Auxiliary Control, Science Department, Jump Drive
- 3) Lowest rank + 2 for any ship equipped with any of the following: Weapons, Military Hangar Bay, Main Engineering, CIC, Flag Bridge
- 4) Regardless of the above, any ship of 1000 tons or less will be the lowest rank, unless it has one of the control stations (Auxiliary Control, Science Department, Main Engineering, CIC)
Additional officers on the same ship have the following rank requirements:
- 1) One rank lower than required ship commander rank: Executive Officer, Science Officer, Commander Air Group
- 2) Two ranks lower than required ship commander rank: Chief Engineer, Tactical Officer
For example, the executive officer on a warship would be lowest rank + 1 (one lower than commander requirement) while the executive officer on an unarmed geological survey ship would be the lowest rank.
Overall, the variety of positions available at different ranks, combined with the positions opening up due to retirements, promotions and assignment of junior officers to ship command, should provide a more interesting career progression.
The required rank of a ship commander is set automatically by Aurora and will be the lowest race rank, unless one of the following component rules is activated. Component rules are not cumulative so only the highest requirement applies.
- If a ship is greater than 1000 tons and has any of the following component, the required rank is lowest rank + 1: Weapons, survey sensors, a jump drive, a hangar deck.
- If a ship has any of the following component, the required rank is lowest rank + 1: Auxiliary Control, Science Department, Primary Flight Control.
- If a ship has any of the following component, the required rank is lowest rank + 2: Main Engineering, CIC, Flag Bridge.
The Class Window has a checkbox entitled Senior C.O. If this is checked, the class will have a required rank one higher than the above rules require (to allow the player to designate certain classes as worthy of a more senior officer than normal).
Death & Retirement
In C# Aurora, the rules for accidental death and commander health remain as they are in VB6 Aurora.
Retirements are handled differently. An naval officer will be checked for the potential for retirement from service once the length of his career exceeds the minimum retirement time for his rank. The minimum retirement point is 10 years for the lowest rank. For other ranks it is equal to 10, plus 5 years for every level of rank above the minimum. So assuming lieutenant commander was the lowest rank, minimum retirement would be 10 years after career start for a lieutenant commander, 15 years for a commander, 20 years for a captain, etc.. The removal of officers after six years with no command will no longer happen. Instead, C# should have a more realistic progression because of the different mechanics. Firstly, inactive or low ranked commanders will tend to retire relatively early, which will keep overall officer numbers down and open up their commands (if one exists) for new assignments.
The chance of the retirement occurring is 20% for each year beyond the minimum retirement date. This is doubled if the commander has no assignment. Each increment the chance is checked using: (Increment Length / One Year) * Retirement Chance. Date 02.09.2017
Scientists and Administrators
In C# Aurora, the rules for accidental death and commander health remain as they are in VB6 Aurora.
Retirements are handled differently. The chance of the retirement occurring is 20% for each year beyond the minimum retirement date. This is doubled if the commander has no assignment. Each increment the chance is checked using: (Increment Length / One Year) * Retirement Chance.
For scientists and administrators the minimum retirement is 40 years. Date 02.09.2017
Related Stuff
Teams
Teams as in VB6 don't exist in Aurora C#.
Espionage Teams have been replaced by ELINT Ship Modules to gather Intelligence.
Geological Survey Teams are replaced by Geological Survey Ground Units.
Xenology Teams have been replaced by Xenoarchaeology Equipment for ground units.