OK, thanks to Elwood I figured out the energy cost of running sector defence fighters, but can someone explain how the game decides where to draw this juice from? I have a four planet system with two planets built up more than the others. These two planets are losing energy each update, the other two are gaining energy. Production rates for energy are the same on all four (80%+). The only difference, as far as I can see, are that the two planets gaining energy are currently at less than a million. Is there a minimum level at which planets are excluded from providing power to sector defence? If all four planets were contributing, none of them would be losing any energy at all, I suspect.
What about fighters on each planet? Are those numbers the same as well? That's the only other variable I can think of off the top of my head.
They're not, but AFAIK fighters on planets don't drain any energy unless the planet is actually attacked. Anyway, it's resolved for now - dumped 200,000 more colonists on each of the major worlds and that seems to have upped the production rate to the point where it can cope.
fighters in secdef use .1 energy per fighter per 15 minutes IIRC (settings say defenses degrade every 15) - fighters on a planet use no energy at all which is one reason why planets become rather silly to attack once they get 10 million + fighters on them (well unless you're after bragging rights).
Yeah, I know how much energy they use - the problem is the game doesn't seem to split the cost equally between all my planets in that sector. If it did, they should be producing enough per update to supply the fighters and make some on top, but it was only taking from two of the planets, thus draining them (until I upped the population). What I want to know is why? If I need to up the numbers again then I don't want to run into the same problem.
Don't bother with fighters. They have a high cost initially, a high cost to upkeep, are easily snuck by. Not only that, fighters give the enemy a warning. Anyone who would lose to them gets the chance to not enter the sector. For this point in the game, even 5 planets with 100 million population, set on 100% energy production could not upkeep a force that is large enough to deter anyone from entering. Fighters on a planet cost no upkeep and of course they get the aid of beams, torps, and shields. If you want to protect the sector itself, use mines. Mines don't require any upkeep, and they do not warn the player entering the sector. And they cost less initially. With enough mines you can destroy anyone without warning.
To my mind, if a warning deters an enemy from attacking, it's as good as them attacking and getting wasted. If they can't handle the fighters either way...
Yeah but as I said later in the post... you can't support enough fighters to deter anyone now. Also, one retarded thing about fighters is that they cause your mines to not work. Mines are just plain better.
