Possible to Upgrade to New Hull?

[TheMac]

I haven't played the Boskara in months, and thus I forgot they have hulls with different sized internal (white) bays. My goal was to try and play them as a capturing race, and I ran into issues with the white bays once I started adding the boarding pods and now Ion defense.

I already have four fleets built, and I thought if I went back and chose to obsolete the Heavy Destroyers, and then to create a new fitting in the Fast Destroyer that the fitting AI would recognize that the Heavy Destroyer fitting had been set to obsolete and the new fitting Fast Destroyer was now active. All I would need to do then is send in one fleet a time to "retrofit" from the old Heavy DD, to the new Fast DD.

Sure didn't work that way. They just won't change over. I even tried going back into the fleet design screen where I built and maintain these as "Manual Fleet", changing each upgrade path from "Latest Design for Largest Hull for Role" to the specific hull I would like to have, and then tried to retrofit again but that had zero effect.

Is there no way to "retrofit" a Heavy Destroyer into a Fast Destroyer once it's built? Am I just stuck with them until I lose them in a fight and can hit the triangle "Top up fleet with ships" button? That does work. If I retire a ship and then hit the button it will replace it with the ship I want.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3104691910

save game if it helps

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rm04D4Wx_zCziOF51yMMeE9z4nvGlF9G/view?usp=sharing

Thanks.

Edit: BTW, I'm thinking about retiring all these ships but there sure doesn't appear to be an easy way to do so. Looks like I have to select each ship in each fleet and manually tell them to retire. That's quite a job with four fleets.

[Nightskies]

Ships will retrofit into other hulls with the same role. You can do that by either directly telling a ship to upgrade to another specific design, or specifying it's upgrade path on the design screen. Be sure to specify the design by name, not use "Latest Design for Largest Hull for Role". Check your fleet design and make sure it's similarly specified, and check its orders for upgrading obsolete ships.

And of course, retrofit before topping up, lest you build lots of extra ships.

To retire multiple ships, you can use the Military Tab and sort by fleet, select the first ship in the list in that fleet, then shift-click the last one, selecting all the ships in that fleet without selecting them as a fleet. You should be able to tell them to retire or scrap with a single order. Alternatively, looking at the fleet, you can drag-select them.

[stax]

Change the filter from "latest buildable designs" to "all" (so that the obsolete heavy destroyer is in the list).
Edit the (now obsolete) heavy design, and change what it should be retrofitted to (make sure it shows the fast destroyer in that section of design screen). Save design. Now all the existing heavy destroyers should auto refit to the fast version at first opportunity.

[TheMac]

Originally posted by Nightskies:

Ships will retrofit into other hulls with the same role. You can do that by either directly telling a ship to upgrade to another specific design, or specifying it's upgrade path on the design screen. Be sure to specify the design by name, not use "Latest Design for Largest Hull for Role". Check your fleet design and make sure it's similarly specified, and check its orders for upgrading obsolete ships.

And of course, retrofit before topping up, lest you build lots of extra ships.

To retire multiple ships, you can use the Military Tab and sort by fleet, select the first ship in the list in that fleet, then shift-click the last one, selecting all the ships in that fleet without selecting them as a fleet. You should be able to tell them to retire or scrap with a single order. Alternatively, looking at the fleet, you can drag-select them.

I'm trying to follow your directions. In regards to the first paragraph, I don't have the option to retrofit when I select the DD and ctrl-right click on the station.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3105028975

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3105030793

Nothing changed from saved game loaded above, and I don't have the option to retrofit to any other hull.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3105033437

[TheMac]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3105035646

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3105037234

You can see that in this template I have "Ship Role Upgrade / Downgrade Enabled."

Maybe it's right in front of me and I simply can't see it or don't know to do something. This is all I'm aware of in terms of options that would allow me to retrofit into a new hull.

BTW, the "Top up fleets with ships" button is also not highlighted (grayed out currently), and I haven't seen it light up since I've been trying to change to a new hull.

All done with the same save game. Only thing that changed is I allow the game to run a couple days after each change to fleet template.

[HugsAndSnuggles]

You set retrofit path in ship/station designer
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3100986014
which defaults to "latest for hull or role".

Usually, designs respect that path (not the spaceports - those always retrofit to latest).

[TheMac]

Originally posted by HugsAndSnuggles:

You set retrofit path in ship/station designer
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3100986014
which defaults to "latest for hull or role".

Usually, designs respect that path (not the spaceports - those always retrofit to latest).

Oh! I completely forgot about that one. Thanks! I'll give it a try.

[TheMac]

Originally posted by stax:

Change the filter from "latest buildable designs" to "all" (so that the obsolete heavy destroyer is in the list).
Edit the (now obsolete) heavy design, and change what it should be retrofitted to (make sure it shows the fast destroyer in that section of design screen). Save design. Now all the existing heavy destroyers should auto refit to the fast version at first opportunity.

Thanks, Stax. I'll check that one again.

[TheMac]

Originally posted by TheMac:

Originally posted by HugsAndSnuggles:

You set retrofit path in ship/station designer
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3100986014
which defaults to "latest for hull or role".

Usually, designs respect that path (not the spaceports - those always retrofit to latest).

Oh! I completely forgot about that one. Thanks! I'll give it a try.

Edit: That did it. I had to go into the current fitting for that design and change the upgrade path to the current (new hull) and then I had the Upgrade button highlighted.

What a complicated game. Thanks!

[HugsAndSnuggles]

Originally posted by TheMac:

Originally posted by TheMac:

Oh! I completely forgot about that one. Thanks! I'll give it a try.

Edit: That did it. I had to go into the current fitting for that design and change the upgrade path to the current (new hull) and then I had the Upgrade button highlighted.

What a complicated game. Thanks!

It, probably, assumes by default that different "advanced" destroyer hulls are supposed to have a different purpose, hence the additional steps.

[TheMac]

Originally posted by HugsAndSnuggles:

Originally posted by TheMac:

Edit: That did it. I had to go into the current fitting for that design and change the upgrade path to the current (new hull) and then I had the Upgrade button highlighted.

What a complicated game. Thanks!

It, probably, assumes by default that different "advanced" destroyer hulls are supposed to have a different purpose, hence the additional steps.

Thanks. Nice to know the backend of that feature, which could be helpful if a player wanted different DD's in different fleets.

[TheMac]

Originally posted by HugsAndSnuggles:

Originally posted by TheMac:

Edit: That did it. I had to go into the current fitting for that design and change the upgrade path to the current (new hull) and then I had the Upgrade button highlighted.

What a complicated game. Thanks!

It, probably, assumes by default that different "advanced" destroyer hulls are supposed to have a different purpose, hence the additional steps.

Hey Hugs. There is no way to do what I'm looking to do. I'll upload a video showing what happens. Maybe I'm still missing something, but if so I can't see it. In all fairness, the game tells me it's upgrading correctly, but then it just doesn't.

1. I accidentally upgraded from a 600 DD hull to a Fleet DD hull, and it was auto generated named "Ratlam." Don't know how that happened, but it did.

2. I Set Ratlam to obsolete and created a new DD Fast DD hull "675 Fast Destroyer" and set it to Active.

3. I opened up the Ratlam fitting, noticed it was set to Obsolete, changed the upgrade path to 675 Fast Destroyer, saved it, and then backing out to the Designs screen I saw the Ratlam was now active. If I set it to Obsolete, then the upgrade option goes away, so it has to stay Active. According to the game, this Ratlam Fleet DD should upgrade to a 675 Fast DD hull, but it doesn't. Upgrading takes about two seconds, and then you have a Ratlam 2 still in the fast DD hull.

Edit: I found a way to do it, but you have to not only set the upgrade path, you have to hit VIEW after setting the path. Then it will upgrade to a different DD hull.

Video coming

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dZTBwa3hgsQ211S7IrYMrN7Lq9rNnl_j/view?usp=sharing

Surely that can't be the intended game design.

No, I didn't intentionally call you Shirley. ;)

Edit 2. That path also doesn't work. The DD retrofit to a 675 Fast Destroyer, then they immediately retrofit to a Ratlam 2 Fleet Destroyer. Talk about maddening stuff. I'm about to lose my marbles.

There is absolutely no way to retrofit from one advanced DD hull to another and have it stay that way in the current beta. Maybe it was possible in another build?

[Nightskies]

The Ratlam is a captured hull or something, perhaps a restored derelict ship. These ships are more difficult to change.

Select the hull design (the Ratlam), then make an upgrade design for it. Doesn't matter what the upgrade is, you'll immediately make THAT upgrade have a retrofit path to the Fast Destroyer.

This will unlock the Ratlam's ability to retrofit into the new Ratlam V2. Once it begins retrofitting, you can obsolete the Ratlam V2, and it can subsequently retrofit into the Fast Destroyer.


Oh. Don't forget the fleet templates. "Latest Design for Largest Hull for Role" may not have the results you'd expect (actually, it is doing exactly what is making you lose your marbles, its doing what its told, ironically)- I recommend specifying the 675 Fast Destoyer in the fleet templates. The fleet template will automatically update to new upgrades to the hull design as you specify in the design for the 675 Fast Destroyer.

[Nightskies]

Normally, an automated emperor would be unconcerned with these restored derelicts- they'll dismantle them or let them be destroyed in battle, or even let them drift between the colonies as a ship unfit for fleet duty. In the big picture, these ships are insignificant, only us tryhards care to utilize every ship at our disposal.

[TheMac]

Oh my gosh. I found a way, but this is pure nuts. Talk about standing on my head to get this done.

1. Select target ship in fleet to determine current hull. In this case Ratlam Fleet Destroyer.

2. Create a new fitting with a new (different DD hull). I used 675 Fast Destroyer. Set it to active and Ratlam to Obsolete.

3. Go into the Fleet Templates, find the template representing the fleet you want to modify. Select the destroyer line, and change from "Latest Design for Largest Hull for Role" and change that to 675 Fast Destroyer

3. Open Designs, then set the filter to Latest Designs per Hull. Locate Ratlam Fleet Destroyer and select it. Hit the Upgrade button which opens the fitting screen. Select "This design upgrades to 675 Fast Destroyer". Hit the VIEW button which takes you to the 675 Fast Destroyer fitting. Hit Save and Exit. That closes the fitting screen.

4. Select the entire fleet from the Fleets Screen (Shift-F11). Notice the Upgrade button is highlighted. Ctrl-right click on a nearby station with a shipyard, and "Retrofit at xxx spaceport." This will only upgrade the DD to Ratlam 2 which takes about two seconds.

5. You will think you have failed, but actually all you have to do is repeat #4 a second time. This time the game will upgrade Ratlam 2 Fleet Destroyer to what you had hoped for, which is my case is the 675 Fast Destroyer.

The Ratlam DD will enter and start the correct upgrade process. Wait until it is finished, then obsolete the Ratlam 2 DD fitting.

Why in the world is this a two upgrade process? Beats me. You can see from the video that it works this way, though the process will turn all your hair gray for sure.

Here's a video showing the exhaustive process

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S8R8z6zEA_wJhTcTdGDVievxaNa0TZyK/view?usp=sharing

[TheMac]

Originally posted by Nightskies:

Normally, an automated emperor would be unconcerned with these restored derelicts- they'll dismantle them or let them be destroyed in battle, or even let them drift between the colonies as a ship unfit for fleet duty. In the big picture, these ships are insignificant, only us tryhards care to utilize every ship at our disposal.

"Hilarious" Some of us emperors are a "little off." J

It works now, but gosh it is a process.