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ION STORMS SUB-MENU:

What is an Ion Storm?:

An Ion Storm is a large charged plasma sub-space temporal disturbance.

Notes on Ion Storms:

Ion Storms can appear at random anywhere in the galaxy.

They can be of any size and strength.

The engergies within an Ion Storm are evenly distributed and constant throughout the disturbance.

Ion Storms will not harm Planets or Starbases or anything on them.

They can, however, pull away Ships docked at the Starbase.

An Ion Storm can damage or move Ships.

Ion Storms cause enemy Minefields to be hidden. They do not show up on scanners.

No Race's Fighters, exept The Colonial (Race 11) Fighters, can view or Sweep a Minefield that is in an Ion Storm.

Ion Storms cause all Cloaking devices aboard Ships to be inoperative.

Hull Slot 29 (Dark Wing Class Battleship) and Hull Slot 31(Resolute Class Battleship) have Advanced Cloaking

devices and they can Cloak inside an Ion Storm.

In Fact, these two Ship Hulls are not affected by any aspects of Ion Storms.

Ion Storms do not render Chunnel or Hyperdrive systems inoperative.

Ion Storms outside the standard (0,0) - (4000,4000) map coordinates will disappear the turn after they move there.

How Many Storms Can There Be?

There can be a maximum of 5 Ion Storms at any one time. (Hconfig).

Up to three new Storms may be created every turn.

If there are more Storms than allowed by the Hconfig, then the weakest Storms will disappear.

Warp readings on newly created Storms may be inaccurate.

Ion Storm Movement:

Ion Storms move along semi-predictable vectors at speeds ranging from warp 1 to warp 10.

The heading vector of an Ion Storm may not change more than 20 degrees in one turn.

The heading vector of an Ion Storm usually changes by 10 degrees.

The speed of an Ion Storm appears to follow the following rules:

Storms stronger than 250 MeV always move at warp 8.

Storms with a radius less than 200 light years move at warp 6.

Storms with a radius greater than 200 light years move thus:

20% of the time - move at warp 2.

48% of the time - move at warp 3.

32% of the time - move at warp 4.

Ion Storm Strength:

Ion Storms are classed by strength. The classes are listed as:

Class 1: Harmless Disturbance. Strength is less than 50 MeV.

Class 2: Moderate Disturbance. Strength ranges from 50 to 99 MeV.

Class 3: Strong Disturbance: Strength ranges from 100 to 149 MeV.

Class 4: Dangerous Storm: Strength ranges from 150 to 199 MeV.

Class 5: Very Dangerous Storm: Strength is 200 MeV or higher.

Power Increase Phase:

The Storm slowly increases in voltage and decreases in radius.

The Storm's voltage is an odd number.

The Storm's voltage increases by 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 volts.

The Storm's radius decreases by 0 to 6 light years.

When the radius is about to drop below 0, the Storm enters the Power Decrease Phase.

It's strength becomes (current voltage + a random increase).

It's radius becomes (1 - current radius)

The Storm's strength increases by 1 MeV.

Storms over 320 MeV have a 2.5% chance of increasing another 1 MeV.

Storms over 500 MeV have an additional 10% chance of increasing another 1 MeV.

If a Storm over 500 MeV only increases by 1 MeV, it will enter the Power Decreae Phase.

Power Decrease Phase:

The storm slowly decreases in voltage and increases in radius.

The Storm's voltage is an even number.

The Storm's voltage decreases by 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 or 14 volts.

The Storm disappears when the voltage reaches 0 or below.

The Storm's radius increases by 0 to 10 light years.

There is a 1/3 chance that a Storm will 'Pancake'.

That is, it's radius will double in size while its new voltage will become the SQRT of it's current voltage.

Merging Ion Storms:

If two Ion Storms come too close to one another, they will merge into one.

Storms have to overlap somewhat to merge, but they need not cover each other completely.

In addition, one of the Storms must be stronger than the other (greater voltage).

Two Storms of equal strength will not merge.

Here is the merge formula for determining whether two Storms will merge:

(x1 - x2)^2 + (y1 - y2)^2 < (radius1)^2 + (radius2)^2

When two Storms do merge, the new Storm will have the same ID, warp factor, and heading of the stronger of the two merging

The center of the new Ion Storm will lie on the line between the two original Storm centers, where:

(new x) = x1 + (x2 - x1) * (voltage1) / (voltage1 + voltage2)

or…

(new x) = (x1*voltage2) + (x2*voltage1) / (voltage1 + voltage2)

The formula for the Y coordinates is the same as the formula for the X coordinates.

The center of the new Ion Storm will be closer to the center of the weaker, merging Storm.

The voltage of the new Ion Storm will be:

(voltage of stronger merging Storm) + SQRT(voltage of weaker merging Storm)

The radius of the new Ion Storm will be:

(radius of stronger merging Storm) + SQRT(radius of weaker merging Storm).

The new Ion Storm can be either in the Power Increase Phase or the Power Decrease Phase.

Ion Storms merge after Ion Storm movement, but before Ships are affected and before new Ion Storms appear.

Ships and Ion Storms:

All Ships can navigate a Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 Ion Storm with full Shields.

Class 4 and Class 5 Storms render Ship's Shields inoperative.

The Solar Federation (Race 1) Ships have 25% Shields inside Ion Storms.

Class 4 and Class 5 Storms will drap a Ship along with them.

ShipDistMoved = (.75*(StormWarpSpeed^2))

Class 4 and Class 5 Storms can damage Ships.

ShipDamage = (Voltage - ShipMass - CrewExperience + (20*(10-EngType))

Fuelless Ships suffer another 50% damage.

Class 4 and Class 5 Storms can kill Crew members.

Ships that get damaged lose part of their Crew according to the following formula:

CrewKilled = (StormVoltage - ShipMass - (2*CreExperience + 0.3*NumberOfCrew)

Storms with Strength reaching 451 MeV can destroy Ships.

2 factors can prevent a Ship from being destroyed in an Ion Storm

The Ship's Mass

The higher the Mass of the Ship, the better it will weather an Ion Storm.

Load the cargo hold full before entering a Storm.

Fill the fuel tanks before entering a Storm.

Both of these actions add Mass to the Ship.

The experience of the Crew.

Crew experience is NEVER reported and can be gained by the following:

Movement (the larger the Ship's Mass, the more experience is gained by the Crew).

Surviving combat.

Performing Alchemy Missions.

Surviving Ion Storms.

While in a Storm, a Ship's Crew gains 1 experience for every 20 MeV over 140 MeV that the Storm is.