Starfleet Universe
The Starfleet Commander universe is just like our own, only in a very simplified way; A vast and never ending agglomeration of galaxies, solar systems and planets, separated by great distances of empty space. The biggest difference is that this universe only has two dimensions.
There is, at this point, no telling how big the Starfleet universe is, as it keeps expanding the more players join the game. That means that there is no fixed value as to how many galaxies there are in the game. However, each galaxy has a fixed number of 499 solar systems each, and each solar system has a fixed number of 15 planets each.
Coordinates
As to not get lost in the vastness of space, there is an easy coordinates system you can use, which works as follows:
Each coordinate is unique to a specific Planet and consist of 3 numbers, separated by a ":". The first number is the Galaxy in which the planet is located, then comes the Solar System as the second number, and finally the Planet's position in the solar system. In short, coordinates look like this:
- Galaxy:Solar System:Planet position
For instance, if you were in Galaxy 1, Solar System 10, Planet position 5, your coordinates would be 1:10:5.
Traveling
The only way to travel from one planet to another is by using Ships. There are however, a few things to consider when traveling the stars.
Distance
As to make things easier, all distances in the Starfleet universe are standardised and follow the same rules. The distance between two planets is used when calculating travel times.
Planet to Planet Within The Same Solar System
The distance from any planet to another planet in the same Solar System is equal to 5 for each planet, plus 1,000. The distance to the same planet you start from is only 5. For example: the distance from planet 1 to planet 1 is 5, but from planet 1 to planet 10 would be:
5 * 9 + 1,000 = 1,045
Solar System to Solar System within The Same Galaxy The distance from any planet in one Solar System, to any other planet in another Solar System in the same galaxy, is equal to 95 for each solar system traveled, plus 2,700. So to travel from solar system 1 to solar system 10 in the same galaxy, we would use:
(10-1)*95 + 2,700 = 3,555
Galaxy to Galaxy The distance from any planet in one galaxy to any planet in another galaxy is 20,000 for each galaxy traveled. So to go from galaxy 1 to galaxy 3 would be a distance of:
20,000 * (3 - 1) = 40,000
Speed
Each ship in Starfleet Commander has a Base Speed, which is the speed it will travel at if its engines have not been upgraded through researched technologies.
Jet Drive, Pulse Drive, and Warp Drive research all increase the speed of ships powered by those drives by 10%, 20%, and 30%, respectively. The increased speed as a result of the engine upgrades is called the Effective Speed.
Example:
A Poseidon Class Cruiser has a base speed of 15,000. It also has a Pulse Drive and requires Level 4 of that to be built. Pulse Engine Tech gives a speed boost of 20% for each level, so in this case 80%. Thus a Poseidon's Effective Speed is 1.8 * 15,000 = 27,000
Any fleet travels at the speed of the slowest ship in that fleet. Therefore if you send out an attacking fleet containing some Poseidon ships and some Hercules Class Cargo ships, the fleet will travel at the much slower speed of the Hercules Class.
Travel Time
Traveling through the vastness of space takes time. The traveling time depends on the speed of the Ships in the fleet and the distance there is to travel. The result of the following calculation is expressed in seconds:
Where distance is the distance between the two planets.
Where speed is the effective speed of the slowest class of ships in the fleet.
Where speed percentage is a value from 1 to 10, representing 10% to 100%, selected in the speed drop-down.
Cost
Fuel
Hydrogen is the fuel powering the engines of your Ships, allowing them to travel through space. Each ship has a consumption rating that tells you how much fuel a ship will use while traveling. The higher the consumption rating, the more fuel is required.
Range
The entire amount of hydrogen needed for the trip must be stored on the planet where the ships are located, and your fleet must be able to carry all the fuel it needs for the entire trip in its cargo space. You can increase the range by adding cargo ships to your fleet as to carry more fuel.
Consumption
The hydrogen consumption is computed for each group of ships of the same type, therefore, you must compute it for each type of ship in the fleet separately. The fuel consumption of your fleet can be reduced by sending it off at a slower speed. The equation is as follows:
Fuel Consumption = Number of Ships * Consumption * (Distance/35,000) * [Speed/100 * (base speed/effective speed)^.5 + 1]^2
