C-Ship Crew

Crew Grade

In VB6 Aurora, each ship crew receives grade points during each construction phase. The number of grade points received per year is equal to the commander's crew training rating. The maximum number of points is 2000.

In C# Aurora, each ship crew receives grade points during each construction phase. The number of grade points received per year is equal to 50% of the commander's crew training rating, plus 100% of the executive officer's crew training rating. This training will only happen if the ship has at least one command & control system undamaged. The maximum number of points is 1000.

A ship's crew grade bonus is equal to SQRT(Grade Points) - 10. So for VB6 Aurora the maximum is 34% and for C# Aurora it is 21%.

The net effect is that the grade bonus will be received more quickly but has a lower maximum value. The gap will be made up by the bonuses of other officers, such as the Tactical Officer or Chief Engineer. 07.10.2018

Crew Morale

Basics

An issue in VB6 is that crew morale is checked for all ships, yet for many ships (anything that is not a military ship or doesn't mount survey sensors), the morale is effectively irrelevant.

Therefore in C# Aurora, only ships for which morale is a potential issue will be checked for exceeding deployment time. This check is indicated by the addition of 'MCR' to the end of the Intended Deployment Time row of the class summary.

The requirement for a ship to have at least a 3 month deployment time in order to be classed as a non-military vessel still remains. Date 02.09.2017

Deployment Clock

Each construction phase, every ship is checked according to the following rules:

• 1. Any military ship, or one equipped with geological survey sensors, has a deployment clock, similar to their maintenance clock, which is displayed on the fleet window in months
• 2. For ships outside hangar bays, the clock normally advances at a rate equal to the passage of time when the ship is anywhere except at a recreational location
• 3. A recreational location is any ship with a recreational module or any population of at least 50,000 people.
• 4. When any ship (including those in hangars) is at a recreational location, the deployment clock reduces at a rate equal to ten times the passage of time.
• 5. If a parasite is in a hangar bay but the mothership is not at a recreational location, the deployment clock of the parasite reduces at a rate equal to the following formula:
  • Time Passed * 10 * (1 - Mothership Deployment Modifier));
• 6. The Mothership Deployment Modifier is equal to the Mothership Deployment Clock / Mothership Class Intended Deployment Time. In effect, the more time on the mothership deployment clock, the slower any docked parasites reduce their own clocks
• 7. If the Mothership Deployment Modifier is equal to or greater than 1, any parasite in the hangar cannot reduce its own deployment clock, although the time on the parasite clock will not grow either. This means that every time the parasite is deployed, its clock will continue to increase without the chance to reduce between missions.
• 8. A ship's morale is always 100% unless the ship's deployment clock exceeds the intended deployment time of its class (or for other reasons in subsequent sections). In that case, morale is equal to the intended deployment time / deployment clock. For example, a ship with a deployment clock for 15 months and an intended deployment time of 12 months would have a morale of 80%.
• 9. If the crew on the ship is less than half the required crew complement, morale is multiplied by (Current Crew / Class Crew) x 2;
• 10. Morale can never fall below 25% as a result of the above rules.

The ship's deployment clock will increase at a rate equal to the time passed multiplying by the Overcrowding Modifier. For example, if the ship is 25% overcrowded, the deployment clock will increase at 1.5625x the normal rate (1.25 x 1.25).

If a ship has no life support systems (due to combat damage or maintenance failures), it suffers the following penalties: For any military ship or one equipped with geological survey sensors, the deployment clock increases at 12x the normal rate and morale is immediately reduced to 10%. Date 15.07.2018

Overcrowding and Life Support Failure

Overcrowding

• 1. Each construction phase, the total personnel on each ship is compared to the available accommodation (after accounting for damage). Personnel in this case equals the crew, any rescued survivors beyond the capacity of any cryogenic modules and the capacity of the flight crew berths (I may add a rule tracking whether the hangar is in use when checking the flight crew berths).
• 2. If the required accommodation is greater than the available accommodation, the ship is overcrowded.
• 3. In this case, an Overcrowding Modifier is calculated equal to: (Required Accommodation / Actual Accommodation) ^ 2.
• 4. The ship's deployment clock will increase at a rate equal to the time passed multiplying by the Overcrowding Modifier. For example, if the ship is 25% overcrowded, the deployment clock will increase at 1.5625x the normal rate (1.25 x 1.25).
• 5. If the overcrowding modifier is greater than 1.5, life support may begin to suffer damage.
• 6. The percentage chance of failure in any construction phase is equal to Overcrowding Modifier * 100 * (Increment Length / Year Length). That translates to a 3.1% chance per construction phase if the ship is 50% overcrowded, an 8.6% chance at 150% overcrowded and a 34.2% chance at 400%.
• 7. If failure occurs, a crew quarters system will potentially be damaged. This can be prevented in the normal way by maintenance supplies. If no maintenance supplies are available, the crew quarters will be destroyed.
• 8. Destruction of crew quarters will reduce available accommodation and increase the overcrowding problem. Eventually, if all crew quarters are destroyed, this will lead to complete life support failure.
• 9. Overcrowding is not checked on parasites in hangars, as it is assumed the flight crew berths and life support on the mothership will help with this situation. To avoid potential exploits of this simplification, any survivors on a parasite that docks with a mothership will be transferred to the mothership, unless they can be held in cryogenic modules on the parasite.

Date 15.07.2018

Life Support Failure

If a ship has no life support systems (due to combat damage or maintenance failures), it suffers the following penalties:

• 1. For any military ship or one equipped with geological survey sensors, the deployment clock increases at 12x the normal rate and morale is immediately reduced to 10%.
• 2. The crew takes casualties from 4% to 80% (4D20) of the remaining crew in each construction phase
• 3. Any survivors on board take casualties of up to 80% of the remaining survivors in each construction phase
• 4. Each commander on board the ship has a chance of dying equal to half the crew casualty percentage in step 2.

Life support failure is not checked for parasites in hangars, as it is assumed the flight crew berths and life support on the mothership will help with this situation. Date 15.07.2018

Training

Fleet Training in C# Aurora provides the same benefits as VB6 Aurora. The mechanics by which it takes place are quite different.

Any fleet assigned to an Admin Command with a 'Training' specialisation will automatically take part in Fleet Training. Attaching a fleet to a Training Admin Command will start Fleet Training, while removing it will end Fleet Training.

Each construction phase, each ship in a fleet assigned to a Training Admin Command will gain Fleet Training Points based on the following formula:

Crew Training bonus of the Admin Command Commander * Ship Crew Grade * Ship Morale * (Construction Phase Length / One Year)

Unlike VB6, a fleet undergoing Fleet Training can perform normal duties and can be given orders if desired (although this is not required). There are no fixed movement or locations for training. However, only military ships can benefit from Fleet Training. While in training, a ship is under the following restrictions:

• 1) The parent fleet must remain in a system that is within range of its parent Training Admin Command
• 2) The ship cannot use maintenance facilities
• 3) The ship does not benefit from a Recreational Location
• 4) Maintenance Failure Chance is 2x normal
• 5) The ship's Maintenance Clock increases by 2x time (compared to 1x for a normal ship), unless it is within a military hangar.
• 6) The ship's Shore Leave Clock increases by 2x time (compared to 1x for a normal ship), unless it is within a military hangar.
• 7) Fuel is used as if the ship was running its engine at 10% power for the period of training (this is on top of any fuel used in normal movement). The fuel is consumed during each movement phase. A 'ship' without engines does not require fuel for this purpose
• 8) Training will not take place if the ship is out of fuel or the Training Admin Command does not have a sufficiently senior commander.

These mechanics are intended to simulate that ships assigned to 'Fleet Training' are carrying out intensive training (drills, etc,) during the course of their normal activities. This places a strain on the ship systems and the crew, resulting in increased maintenance and fuel use and a lower overall deployment time. The ship also sacrifices the benefits that would come from a different type of Admin Command.

Date 02.09.2018