IMHO it would only be useful once terra is drained.
Until then, anything can be happening.
Granted, if they are e-warping, just start gridding!

Swath Turbo Colo = No Safeties, corpie moves a fig your in trouble

Plus if you run that someone else will run a lift, look, store colo amount script and know your distance in about 10 seconds
Just saying that no matter how fast there is a faster way. Best method is a script that alters leaving a couple random holds each time so it throws the count off making it harder to locate.

Yeah, the safety is a concern, but I'm really not all that troubled about anyone locating my base. It will be found eventually and if my defenses don't hold, I build stronger next time.

Sure they can tell how many colonists you are taking per trip. Let's say they do the calculations and figure it 10 hops out. Or is it? Maybe it's 15 hops out and 5 hops back. Maybe they are using a mobile planet. Maybe they are taking extra fuel to run 2 or 3 trips before grabbing fuel again. Maybe they don't have full holds. Lot of maybe's in those calculations.

Plus, knowing the distance only narrows it down so much. There are a LOT of sectors 8 hops from Terra...

Add to that...

Lets say you calc it out and its 20 hops away... If a person has an avoid or two... their planet could be 10 sectors away... and people looking for it would overshoot it.


... Just say'n

The distance calc is only part of the data used in of the process of locating a base.

               / Promethius / Enigma / Wolfen /

"A man who has no skills can be taught, a man who has no honor has nothing."

I usually just drive around till I find everybody (lol)

Doesn't twarp ignore avoids when calculating distances?

oh ya... forgot about that...lol. I wonder though how hard would it be to have a colonizer script, and add a "Move to this sector ____ before warping home" option. It might add to turns, but if someone is that worried about being discovered.. that would cure it.

However, you can have SWATH go through any sector you want... doesn't have to be right by Terra. Throwing off the calculation discussed in this thread by 2 or 3 extra warps would lead the would-be attacker on a massive wild goose chase in a 30,000 sector universe.

If you have a 100 hold ship, take 70 cols, then you are within the capaiblity of the ore on your ship. It doesn't matter if you have 6 holds of org to throw me off, you are still within the maximum range, unless you short hop out, fuel and go again.

I can identify probable base locations for 80% of the players with a very simple script regardless of throwing the calculation off - they will be within a maximum distance - I'm not looking at the minimum distances based on calculations (minimums are usually fairly constant except for new players).

               / Promethius / Enigma / Wolfen /

"A man who has no skills can be taught, a man who has no honor has nothing."

I'm messing around as a solo red in a game. I just used Swath to record a macro string that will use a Corp Flag to tow a Colt to a jump next to Fed space, refuel, tow to Terra, transport into the Colt, grab 250 colos, transport back into Corp flag and twarp tow the loaded Colt back to base, transport to Colt, unload colos, transport to Corp Flag and refuel.

Granted, this takes 82 turns per cycle, but I get my colos.

Isn't the more cost effective route for a red to outcash the
blues and then just take their colos?

Sure. You can estimate a lot of things. That doesn't mean that you are acurate. Just because I take 70 colonists with a 100 hold ship doesn't mean I'm 10 hops from Terra, and if I am that does't mean that is my base sector in a game where level 4 are available.