Moon

A moon is a celestial body that can be found in orbit around an inhabited planet. It is the home of several specialty buildings, and can be used in many ways similarly to a colonized planet. It disappears upon abandoning a planet, or when a colony is removed for inactivity.

Moons can also be abandoned independently of the planet.

Starfleet Hired Guns and Universe 3 do not have moons. In Hired Guns, its territories take the place of moons in the user interface.

In universes with moons since Nova (i.e., Nova, Conquest, and Eradeon) moons can also be destroyed by a fleet of Zeus.

Evaluation

Advantages

• Specialty buildings: Lunar Dock, Oracle, and Warp Gate.
• Oracles cannot scan moons.
• Resources may be stored and consumed via a Shipyard.

Disadvantages

• Mines cannot be built.
• Missions cannot be operated from the Moon.
• Ships parked on a Moon are NOT hidden from view by probes.
• Workers cannot be transported to, built on, or used on a Moon.
• Foundry cannot be built.

Special Note

• Planets and Moons share a single location for Debris. Debris resulting from a battle taking place at a moon will be found on the Galaxy screen adjacent to the associated planet, not the moon itself. Harvest missions sent to either the planet or the moon will collect the debris.

Appearance

Moon appearance on the galaxy screen.

Moons appear as a blank spot in the number sequence from the galaxy view.

Formation

Moons can only be formed from the debris of large battles. For every 150,000 debris produced in a battle, there is a 1% chance that a moon will coalesce. The maximum chance of moon accretion is 20% (3,000,000 debris).

The calculation is performed on a per-battle basis; any debris in orbit at the time of a battle is not included in determining if a moon is formed.

Because the moon is the result of battle, the defending planet is the owner of any moon that is formed. Moon creation is immediate after the battle, and does not consume the debris field; therefore, collecting the debris field will not interfere with the process.

Moons generate with exactly 1 (one) building field, which must be used for a Lunar Base Level 1.

Buildings

The following are the ONLY building types available on a Moon.

• Lunar Base is required in order to build other structures on a moon. Each level provides three additional building fields on the moon, but occupies one, leaving a surplus of two available building fields.
• Oracle can only be built on a moon. It is a long range telescope that is capable of detecting most fleet movements.
• Warp Gate can only be built on a moon. When you have more than one, it allows for the owner to instantly transfer ships between warp gates.
• Shipyard works like a shipyard on a planet. Building one allows you to build ships and defenses.
• Capitol works like a capitol on a planet.
• Lunar Dock can be used to deploy a Hephaestus Class Attack Platform back to your moon.

Note that the moon is considered a separate entity from the planet it orbits. Any shipyards, planetary defenses, and capitols built on one do not affect build times and defensive capacities of the other. Anti-ballistic Missiles built on a planet do protect its moon.

At any time, should you have used all current building fields, you will receive the following warning on the moon's Buildings page:
All fields on the moon have been used up. If you wish to continue building, you will have to tear down one building's level and then upgrade the Lunar Base to gain more fields.

Obtaining

Ships per 150,000 debris and corresponding chance of moon formation. (This table does not apply to Starfleet Commander Conquest it has unique ship and defense debris rules)

Ship	1%	2%	3%	4%	5%	6%	7%	8%	9%	10%	11%	12%	13%	14%	15%	16%	17%	18%	19%	20%
Empusa Class	1000	2000	3000	4000	5000	6000	7000	8000	9000	10000	11000	12000	13000	14000	15000	16000	17000	18000	19000	20000
Hermes Class	500	1000	1500	2000	2500	3000	3500	4000	4500	5000	5500	6000	6500	7000	7500	8000	8500	9000	9500	10000
Helios Class	250	500	750	1000	1250	1500	1750	2000	2250	2500	2750	3000	3250	3500	3750	4000	4250	4500	4750	5000
Atlas Class	125	250	375	500	625	750	875	1000	1125	1250	1375	1500	1625	1750	1875	2000	2125	2250	2375	2500
Curetes Class	125	250	375	500	625	750	875	1000	1125	1250	1375	1500	1625	1750	1875	2000	2125	2250	2375	2500
Hercules Class	42	84	126	168	210	252	294	336	378	420	462	504	546	588	630	672	714	756	798	840
Artemis Class	125	250	375	500	625	750	875	1000	1125	1250	1375	1500	1625	1750	1875	2000	2125	2250	2375	2500
Apollo Class	59	118	177	263	295	354	413	472	531	590	649	708	767	826	885	944	1003	1062	1121	1180
Charon Class	63	126	189	252	315	378	441	504	567	630	693	756	819	882	945	1008	1071	1134	1197	1260
Zagreus Class	63	126	189	252	315	378	441	504	567	630	693	756	819	882	945	1008	1071	1134	1197	1260
Dionysus Class	32	64	96	128	160	192	224	256	288	320	352	384	416	448	480	512	544	576	608	640
Poseidon Class	19	38	57	76	95	114	133	152	171	190	209	228	247	266	285	304	323	342	361	380
Pallas Class	16	32	48	64	80	96	112	128	144	160	176	192	208	224	240	256	272	288	304	320
Gaia Class	17	34	51	68	85	102	119	136	153	170	187	204	221	238	255	272	289	306	323	340
Carmanor Class	14	28	42	56	70	84	98	112	126	140	154	168	182	196	210	224	238	252	266	280
Athena Class	9	18	27	36	45	54	63	72	81	90	99	108	117	126	135	144	153	162	171	180
Ares Class	7	14	21	28	35	42	49	56	63	70	77	84	91	98	105	112	119	126	133	140
Hades Class	8	16	24	32	40	48	56	64	72	80	88	96	104	112	120	128	136	144	152	160
Prometheus Class	5	10	15	20	25	30	35	40	45	50	55	60	65	70	75	80	85	90	95	100
Thanatos Class					1					2					3					4
Zeus Class																		1		2
Hephaestus Class																				1

• NOTE: The rightmost columns project the rounding from the 1% value and so overstate the requirement slightly (8.3 Athena for 1% is indeed 9, but at 20% the correct answer is 167 not 180)

Probability

The probability of getting a moon is always a maximum of 20% on any given chance. The more attempts you make however, the greater the likelihood you will succeed in creating a moon. Unfortunately five 20% attempts will not guarantee you a moon; the odds of probability are closer to 67%. The same can be said with 21 20% attempts. Even though the odds of probability state you have a 99% chance of gaining a moon, every attempt still has a 20% chance of creating a moon. Using a lunar commander will double the base percentage chance of a moon forming.

Keep in mind that the chance is always random. The game doesn't keep track and calculate how many attempts you've made in the past. Below is a chart that outlines the probability.

Probability of gaining a moon on 'n' attempts

Number of attempts	Percent Chance of gaining a moon with 20% attempts	Percent Chance of not gaining a moon with 20% attempts	Percent Chance of gaining a moon with 10% attempts
1	20	80	10
2	36	64	19
3	49	51	27.1
4	59	41	34.39
5	67.23	32.77	40.95
6	73.79	26.21	46.86
7	79.03	20.97	52.17
8	83.22	16.78	56.95
9	86.58	13.42	61.26
10	89.26	10.74	65.13
11	91.41	8.59	68.62
12	93.13	6.87	71.76
13	94.50	5.50	74.58
14	95.60	4.40	77.12
15	96.48	3.52	79.41
16	97.19	2.81	81.47
17	97.75	2.25	83.32
18	98.20	1.80	84.99
19	98.56	1.44	86.49
20	98.85	1.15	87.84
21	99.08	0.92	89.06
35	99.96	0.041	97.5
n	( 1 - (0.8)n ) * 100	(0.8)n * 100	( 1 - (0.9)n ) * 100

Moon Size

In universes since Starfleet Commander Nova, moons are assigned a size at the time of formation based on the size of the debris which created it. (Moons in older universes also have a size assigned, but the number is meaningless.)

Moonsize Diameter:
= FLOOR ( (x + 3 * Base Moon Percentage Chance ) ^ 0,5 * 1000 )

x is a number between 10-20 (10 <= x <= 20) where all x are equally likely to occur

The minimum diameter is 3,605 and the maximum diameter is 8,944. You should always seek the largest possible moon, so it will not be easily destroyed. At the highest probability of 20% moon formation a moon always receives a diameter of at least 8,366.

Moon Size Statistics

Moon Chance	Average Size		Minimum Possible lunar sizes Maximum
1 %	4,225		3,605	3,741	3,872	4,000	4,123	4,242	4,358	4,472	4,582	4,690	4,795
2 %	4,569		4,000	4,123	4,242	4,358	4,472	4,582	4,690	4,795	4,898	5,000	5,099
3 %	4,888		4,358	4,472	4,582	4,690	4,795	4,898	5,000	5,099	5,196	5,291	5,385
4 %	5,187		4,690	4,795	4,898	5,000	5,099	5,196	5,291	5,385	5,477	5,567	5,656
5 %	5,469		5,000	5,099	5,196	5,291	5,385	5,477	5,567	5,656	5,744	5,830	5,916
6 %	5,737		5,291	5,385	5,477	5,567	5,656	5,744	5,830	5,916	6,000	6,082	6,164
7 %	5,994		5,567	5,656	5,744	5,830	5,916	6,000	6,082	6,164	6,244	6,324	6,403
8 %	6,239		5,830	5,916	6,000	6,082	6,164	6,244	6,324	6,403	6,480	6,557	6,633
9 %	6,476		6,082	6,164	6,244	6,324	6,403	6,480	6,557	6,633	6,708	6,782	6,855
10 %	6,704		6,324	6,403	6,480	6,557	6,633	6,708	6,782	6,855	6,928	7,000	7,071
11 %	6,924		6,557	6,633	6,708	6,782	6,855	6,928	7,000	7,071	7,141	7,211	7,280
12 %	7,138		6,782	6,855	6,928	7,000	7,071	7,141	7,211	7,280	7,348	7,416	7,483
13 %	7,345		7,000	7,071	7,141	7,211	7,280	7,348	7,416	7,483	7,549	7,615	7,681
14 %	7,547		7,211	7,280	7,348	7,416	7,483	7,549	7,615	7,681	7,745	7,810	7,874
15 %	7,743		7,416	7,483	7,549	7,615	7,681	7,745	7,810	7,874	7,937	8,000	8,062
16 %	7,934		7,615	7,681	7,745	7,810	7,874	7,937	8,000	8,062	8,124	8,185	8,246
17 %	8,121		7,810	7,874	7,937	8,000	8,062	8,124	8,185	8,246	8,306	8,366	8,426
18 %	8,304		8,000	8,062	8,124	8,185	8,246	8,306	8,366	8,426	8,485	8,544	8,602
19 %	8,483		8,185	8,246	8,306	8,366	8,426	8,485	8,544	8,602	8,660	8,717	8,774
20 %	8,658		8,366	8,426	8,485	8,544	8,602	8,660	8,717	8,774	8,831	8,888	8,944

The Moon Chance portion of the formula for moon size does NOT take into consideration the lunar architect.

Moon Destruction

In Nova, Conquest, and Eradeon a moon can be destroyed by a fleet of Zeus. Before Zeus can destroy a moon, they must defeat all fleets and defenses on the moon. There are 4 possible outcomes for a moon destruction mission:

1. Moon survives, Fleet survives
2. Moon survives, Fleet is destroyed
3. Moon is destroyed, Fleet is destroyed
4. Moon is destroyed, Fleet survives

If the fleet is destroyed a debris field is created but there is no moon formation chance. If the moon is destroyed all fleet tasks from it will be diverted to the planet.

Formulas for Destruction

Chance to destroy moon (in percentage)=

Chance the Fleet is destroyed (in percentage)=

There is almost always a greater chance that a fleet with a single Zeus will be destroyed than the moon. Adding Zeus raises the probability that the moon will be destroyed, up to 100%. However, assuming defending units on a moon can be defeated by a single Zeus and there is no limit on the number of attempts that can be made, additional per-attempt Zeus increase the expected cost of moon destruction.

In the following table

• Moon Sizes are selected from the outside (left and lower) edges of the above moon size table. These values are generally repeated several times in the interior as well.
• The Chance of Fleet Destruction is the chance that the fleet is destroyed in a particular attempt, as given in the above formula. It is independent of fleet composition.
• The Expected Attempts for Single Zeus is the expected (average) number of times a single Zeus would have to attempt moon destruction before the moon is destroyed. (As it turns out) it is simply the inverse of the above chance to destroy moon with Zeus = 1. This is by no means a guarantee; as the number of attempts required with a given number of Zeus follows a geometric distribution, the variance is very large. It can only be said that the actual number of attempts required will usually be between 1 and twice the expected value listed in this column.
• The Expected Zeus Lost Using Single Zeus is the product of the previous two columns, multiplying the expected number of attempts by the probability that the Zeus will be lost in each attempt.
• Zeus required for Certainty is ⌈(100÷(100 − MoonSize^½))²⌉, the number of Zeus required for the chance to destroy moon to meet or exceed 100%.
• Expected Zeus Lost at Certainty is the product of the second and fifth columns, multiplying the chance of fleet loss by the number of Zeus in a fleet that has 100% chance of destroying a moon of that size. Actual fleet loss is, of course, all or nothing.

Expected Cost of Moon Destruction

Moon Size (selected)	Chance of Fleet Destruction	Expected Attempts for Single Zeus	Expected Zeus Lost Using Single Zeus	Zeus Required for Certainty	Expected Zeus Lost at Certainty
3605	30.0%	2.5	0.75	7	2.1
4000	31.6%	2.7	0.86	8	2.5
4358	33.0%	2.9	0.97	9	3.0
4690	34.2%	3.2	1.09	11	3.8
5000	35.4%	3.4	1.21	12	4.2
5291	36.4%	3.7	1.33	14	5.1
5567	37.3%	3.9	1.47	16	6.0
5830	38.2%	4.2	1.61	18	6.9
6082	39.0%	4.5	1.77	21	8.2
6324	39.8%	4.9	1.94	24	9.5
6557	40.5%	5.3	2.13	28	11.3
6782	41.2%	5.7	2.33	33	13.6
7000	41.8%	6.1	2.56	38	15.9
7211	42.5%	6.6	2.82	44	18.7
7416	43.1%	7.2	3.10	52	22.4
7615	43.6%	7.9	3.43	62	27.1
7810	44.2%	8.6	3.80	74	32.7
8000	44.7%	9.5	4.24	90	40.2
8185	45.2%	10.5	4.75	111	50.2
8366	45.7%	11.7	5.36	138	63.1
8426	45.9%	12.2	5.59	149	68.4
8485	46.1%	12.7	5.84	161	74.2
8544	46.2%	13.2	6.11	175	80.9
8602	46.4%	13.8	6.39	191	88.6
8660	46.5%	14.4	6.70	208	96.8
8717	46.7%	15.1	7.04	228	106.4
8774	46.8%	15.8	7.40	250	117.1
8831	47.0%	16.6	7.80	276	129.7
8888	47.1%	17.5	8.24	306	144.2
8944	47.3%	18.4	8.71	340	160.8

Abandoning

Moons may be abandoned, like planets, from their Home page.

When moons were introduced, it was not possible to abandon one without abandoning the associated planet. However, moons are expensive (especially at the time), so the circumstances where one would want to abandon one were extremely rare, if nonexistent. (An exception might be if one accidentally queued a large number of units at the moon's shipyard, and then had a need to enter vacation mode.)

With the introduction in Nova of destructible moons, and moon sizes, a way to abandon moons was also made available. Presumably this was to allow a player to abandon a small moon to attempt to gain a larger one.

Moon abandonment is still rare, but the same user interface is used to detach Hired Guns territories from the associated planet, which is a regular occurrence.

See Also

• Debris
• Lunar Base