New player, a few snags

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Ophiuchus
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Re: New player, a few snags

#16 Post by Ophiuchus »

wobbly wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 2:16 pm Ophiuchus - that wasn't the entry I found confusing. So I came back to the game after an absence & stockpiling had been added in. I click on the production icon, I mouse over Stockpile Transfer & I'm presented with this beautiful entry:
...Perhaps this needs a link to the the stockpile meter entry? That would be a good start.
Yes, the description for the transfer project is not a good entry for knowing about the stockpile - but it also should not explain the stockpile concept(s). I agree that a link would be helpful and maybe the best starting entry is currently the one for the stockpile meter.

But conceptually, the stockpile transfer project has almost no connection to the stockpile meter entry which describes the planetary stockpile meter. Planetary stockpile meter adds up values to boost extraction.
Transfer project gives fine control over storing of PP into the stockpile, so these are at opposite ends of the stockpile mechanic.

I think writing a dedicated encyclopedia entry is in order and it should be properly linked to/from PRODUCTION_WINDOW_ARTICLE_TEXT, METER_STOCKPILE_VALUE_DESC, PROJECT_BT_STOCKPILE_DESC, and STOCKPILE_FOCUS_TEXT.
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drkosy
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Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2020 9:41 am

Re: New player, a few snags

#17 Post by drkosy »

For me it didn't take much time to understand stockpile. I just thought of the "planetary reserve" of original MOO. You could choose the percentage of PP from all planets that should be transferred to the planetary reserve and transfer that reserve to projects that have to be finished quickly.
I guess the idea behind stockpile is quit similar. You build an empire reserve that you can put in projects that have to be finished quickly AND (that is new in freeorion) projects on planets that aren't connected to your main supply line.
Maybe that helps to explain stockpile a simple way :)
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Oberlus
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Re: New player, a few snags

#18 Post by Oberlus »

No empire can use stockpile to accelerate a project, in the pure sense of acceleration.
The primary purpose of stockpile is to share some PP among supply groups, the secondary is to save some PP for later. "Some": an amount depending mostly on the stockpiling trait of the empire's population and also on the stockpiling techs and the share of planets set to that focus; will be small compared to the needs of a single common production item unless majority of population is good/great stockpilers or many stockpiling techs are researched and some planets are set to that focus.
So I'd say better that stockpile is used to provide PP to production projects disconnected from the main supply groups. Those PP can come from surplus/unused PP in the main supply groups, or from stockpiling projects (which intentionally put PP in stockpile, useful when there is no surplus in the main groups and you want to invest some of their PP, by taking it from the production projects in such groups, into disconnected production projects).

The "Stockpile" meter on each planet should be called sth else, because it refers to the amount of stockpile extraction that this planet contributes to the imperial stockpile extraction limit, i.e. how much PP can be extracted from stockpile each turn (for one or more disconnected production projects).
It is counterintuitive that one planet focused to stockpile, with no local production (or just the focus-independent bonuses), is helping a far away planet to build its stuff. It's in fact focused to help (others) extraction.
Also hard to explain where is that stockpile storaged while not in use, how is it transported to where it is needed, and why can't you use it faster when used in the same place that generated/stockpiled it.

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drkosy
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Re: New player, a few snags

#19 Post by drkosy »

It's always difficult to explain a complex thing to someone who is new and knows nothing about it :) That's why I tried to keep it as simple as possible. :oops:
Unfortunaly ChuckStarchaser doesn't seem to be here any more :( So we can discuss about stockpile in another threat...
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