FAQ

General

Q: What is Aurora?

A: Aurora is a 4x (eXpand, eXplore, eXternimate, eXploit) game. Written by Steve Walmsley.

A: The only one is a screen resolution of 1280x1024.

Q: Can I get involved? What about mods?

A: The game is free, but not Open Source or developed collaboratively. Currently, there is no modding planned for. However, you can always post suggestions, discuss changes and report bugs on the forum, and obviously help improve the wiki ;)

Q: Does the AI cheat?

A: As far as I know, neither the NPRs nor civilian ships use fuel. Apart from that, the AI plays by the same rules as the player.

Gameplay

Q: It takes forever to get anything built!

A: You start with only a handful of Construction Factories and a small naval shipyard. It's important that you reserve a part of your industrial production to build more factories as soon as possible. You'll need exponential growth. Which of course uses up more minerals, so make sure you build enough mining capacity as well, or your factories run dry.

Q: I just geo-surveyed this planet/moon/asteroid, but nothing shows up. And why are there pages/systems/colonies missing from the Mineral Report screen?

A: Very few system bodies will have Trans_Newtonian_Elements on them - less than one in twenty. If there are no minerals, the survey/report/window will be blank for that body (well, unless there are alien ruins, which are one-in-a-thousand rare).

Q: What do ship components you can salvage or build and store on your planets actually do?

A: Salvaged tech gives research bonuses, but once you have alien or your own ship components on your world what are they used for? The building time and cost of new ships doesn't seem to be reduced by having the right components.
I assume you're talking about the "completion date" field on the SY management tab when you select a construction task - that's a "feature" :-) If you actually create a build task and look at the next (SY tasks) tab, you'll see that the completion date is shorter if you were able to use stockpiled components.
So long story short, using infrastructure to build ship components reduces ship build time.

Q: My time increments were cut short!

A: Oh, it's NPRs' fault! they are engaged in combat or similarly important activity, luckily you can use automated turns. Also see Game Slowdown.

Q: February 30th?

A: Each month has 30 days in Aurora. Makes things a lot easier.

Q: Why am I missing some of my leaders?

A: You probably missed the message that they died in an accident, or retired.

Q: I'm getting so many messages about things I'm not interested in. Can I configure that?

A: In the Events Log window there is a button "Filter Events". There's a long list of event types. Double-click any you don't want to see.

Q: I gave orders to my ship, but it didn't move in weeks!

A: Check the Event Log. The ship might be in overhaul. Or check the Shipyard Task window - you might have assigned new ship construction to that task group, preventing it from moving.

Q: I sent a bunch of asteroid miners to an asteroid, but they didn't start mining. I waited for a month or so, but they only got to work when I ordered them again to move to the location where they already were.

A: A ship has to be assigned to a particular population if it needs to function as part of this colony. Normally, this is invisible because when a fleet moves there this is set automatically. However, if you moved them there and then set up the colony afterwards, or SM'ed them into position, that wouldn't happen. You can fix it as you did above by moving them to the location again, or you can set a ship's assigned population at the top right of the Ship Window (F6).

Q: My asteroid miners are still sitting on that moon, without mining.

A: That's because asteroid miners only mine asteroids. BTW, use "Move To" for mining, not "Extended Orbit".

Q: My ships don't fire!

A: see the checklist in Combat Overview.

Q: Manually refueling, rearming and resupplying through the Individual Unit window is a major pain in the neck!

A: It is. That's why you can designate ship classes as Tankers, Colliers (ammo carriers) and Supply Ships in the Design window. Then you'll get "Refuel from tanker/Rearm from Collier/Resupply from Supply Ship" orders at the location of these ships. Task Groups containing these ships also now have "Unload 90% Fuel/Ordnance/Supplies to Colony" orders available, so you can automate shipping stuff to your outposts.

Q: It takes dozens of clicks to send a ship to a distant colony. Isn't there a way to simplify things a little?

A: You're lucky! Click "Show all Pops" in the Task Group Orders tab and it'll list all your colonies within four jumps. Ships will then calculate the shortest route themselves.

Q: All the star systems I discover are named Gliese 716 or Gliese 671 or Gliese 176. How original. But somewhat confusing.

A: It's not our fault, it's Glieses' fault, he discovered and named them. Of course, you could re-name them, from the System window (F9).

Q: All my colonists are working in the agricultural sector. None of these hippies wants to be a miner or factory worker.

A: The percentage in agriculture and environmental is based on 5% plus 5% for every point of colony cost. In other words, if the planet is extremely harsh, most of the population is going to be working on keeping everyone alive. To reduce colony cost you could terraform the planet, or you could put the population in orbital habitats so they don't care about conditions on the surface, or you could use automated mines so you don't need population.

Q: In the task force screen, next to the name of some ships there is an (A). What does that mean?

A: The (A) means that they have Active Sensors on.

Q: All of my systems on the Galactic Map are piled up on top of each other. How do I get it to look like the nifty screen shots I've seen on the forum?

A: Whenever a new system is discovered (by exploring a jump point), it shows up in the center of the galactic map. In order to move the systems into a better arrangement, you need to shift-left-drag the ones you want to move. Note that this is only a temporary arrangement. In order to make the arrangement permanent, you need to click the "Sys Pos" button to open the "System Positions" dialogue box, and then hit the "Save Positions" button. There is also a "snap-to-grid" function that can be accessed by hitting the "Line Up" button in the same box. If you have been moving the systems around and you decide you don't like what you've done, you can hit the "Restore" button (before hitting Save Positions), which restores things to the last saved configuration. Finally, you can select multiple systems to move by using left-drag (without the shift). The selected systems will turn an different color. To unselect, simply left-drag in an empty part of the map.

Q: I just got a message that my ground based Geo-survey team was done on 2003 AZ84. But I can't find 2003 AZ84 on the System map's huge list of bodies. Isn't there an easier way to find them for pick-up?

A: Yes. The easiest way might be to click on the event message in the event log. It should take you to that colony's Teams tab.

Troubleshooting

Screen and Visual issues

Q: My netbook screen resolution is bellow the minimum 1280x1024. So I can't play?

A: Well there is reduced height option for 1024x800, but it won't be pretty. Otherwise, try some 3rd party desktop extenders.

Q: I have a window that doesn't appear on the screen, or appears to be off-screen. How do I fix that?

A: Close all windows (or restart) and then use the Reset Window Positions option on the Miscellaneous menu on the main menu bar

Q: I have Garbled/scrunched text.

A: Aurora doesn't support font scaling, make sure you are using default font size in Windows. Try this solution.

Installing

Q: I'm using Windows Vista or later and I keep getting permission errors when trying to extract patch files to the Aurora folder

A: This has to do with security features. The easy fix is to right click /aurora , go to "Properties", go to "Security", browse to the one called "Users" and modify it to have all permissions.

Running

Q: Help! I'm using windows Vista or later and the game crashes

A: Windows 7 and Vista, need to have the game run as administrator. Right-click the game icon, and then click Run as administrator.

Q: Help! I'm getting error 76, Error in CreateGameLog, path not found.

A: Create a directory in your game folder called Logs.

VB6 Only:

Missing MSSTDFMT.DLL

Q: Whenever I try to open my System View Window I get an Error 713. Saying MSSTDFMT.DLL is missing. What do I do?

A: The problem is that that DLL is required for visual basic VB6 to provide the types of functionality provided by the System View window.

Technical solution

Download a tool from Microsoft for Exchange 2000, that is a VB6 program which has MSSTDFMT.DLL included
Extract the download contents to a folder of your choosing. There's no need to run the install, just use whatever unzipping software you prefer (7-Zip, WinRAR, etc. whatever you have available
Then (with admin privilidges)...
- for 32 bit Operating systems
  - copy msstdfmt.dll to c:\windows\system32
  - RUN regsvr32 c:\windows\system32\msstdfmt.dll
- for 64 bit Operating systems
  - copy msstdfmt.dll to c:\windows\syswow64
  - RUN regsvr32 c:\windows\syswow64\msstdfmt.dll
Doing this once "registers" the DLL and should solve your problem

Alternate Solution

Go to the Aurora Forums and check out AcidWeb's Aurora v7.1 - All-In-One/Portable release (or whatever the latest release is) It fixes this issue, adds some enhanced graphics and even enables the music features http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=5663.0

Glossary

AFR: Annual Failure Rate - The chance of a spacecraft component failing based on a one year duration.
AMM: Anti-missile Missile - A missile designed to defend spacecraft by destroying Anti-ship Missiles.
ASM: Anti-ship Missile - A missile designed to destroy spacecraft.
ATM: Atmospheric Pressure - A measure of a System Body's atmosphere that comprises a specific gas based on its percentage of the System Body's total ATM.
BP: Build Point - A measure of cost in wealth for assembling a spacecraft using a Shipyard.
CF: Construction Factory - A facility on a colonized System Body that is usually the primary source of industry on that System Body. Industry is used to construct additional facilities on a System Body, including Planetary Defense Center and spacecraft components.
CIWS: Close-in Weapon System - A spacecraft component that is an automated Point Defense system based on kinetic or energy beam weapons. This is similar to the real world Phalanx CIWS.
CMC: Civilian Mining Colony - A colony on a colonized System Body created by a commercial shipping company for purposes of mining Trans-Newtonian minerals.
CO: Commanding Officer - The officer commanding a spacecraft or ground forces unit.
DAC: Damage Allocation Chart - Aurora's representation of a ship's internal layout for the purposes of mapping internal damage.
DR: Diplomatic Relation - A measure of progress for establishing peaceful relations with another faction.
DSTS: Deep Space Tracking Station - A facility on a colonized System Body that provides long range Electromagnetic and Thermal sensors. Each additional DSTS increases the range of the Electromagnetic and Thermal sensors by 25%.
ECM: Electronic Countermeasure - An electronic system and spacecraft component that interferes with missile Fire Control by reducing its effective range.
ECCM: Electronic Counter-countermeasure - An electronic system and spacecraft component that counters the effect of Electronic Countermeasures.
EM: Electromagnetic - Used in the context of EM sensor, signature, etc.
EP: Espionage Point - A measure of progress for stealing information from another faction.
EPH: Engine Power Hour - One unit of engine power provided for one hour. Commonly used to assess fuel efficiency.
EPM: Economic Production Modifier - A measure of the operational efficiency of facilities on a colonized System Body. If current wealth is less than zero (i.e., deficit spending), then facilities on a colonized System Body that require inputs operate at reduced efficiency. The rate of reduced efficiency is a ratio based on current wealth vs. annual wealth.
FAC: Fast Attack Craft - A small spacecraft less than or equal to 1,000 tons in size that does not require a Bridge spacecraft component. FACs are assembled using a Shipyard.
FC: Fire Control - An electronic system and spacecraft component that designates targets with an optical sensor for its assigned weapon system(s). FC depend on active sensors for targeting information.
FF: Fighter Factory - A facility on a colonized System Body that is used to construct fighters. The rate of production is the level of fighter production rate technology modified by the fighter production bonus of the planetary and sector governors, provided they have been appointed. Each FF requires 50,000 population to operate.
GC: Gauss Cannon - A kinetic beam weapon and spacecraft component based on Electromagnetic acceleration of ammo.
GCB: Ground Combat Bonus - A percentage bonus to ground forces unit combat based on the ground forces unit's Commanding Officer.
GFTF: Ground Forces Training Facility - A facility on a colonized System Body used to train ground forces units. Each GFTF produces 100 Training Points annually.
GPS: Gravity Pulse Strength - A measure of the strength of an active sensor. GPS is range * resolution.
HPM: High Power Microwave - A beam weapon system and spacecraft component that ignores armor and only damages electronic systems.
HS: Hull Space - A spacecraft is measured in HS, which are 50 tons each. Thus, a spacecraft with 100 HS is 5,000 tons.
HTK: Hits to Kill - The amount of damage required to destroy a spacecraft component. If less damage than the HTK is inflicted on a spacecraft component, then the chance of destruction is damage / HTK.
IFR: Incremental Failure Rate - The chance of a spacecraft component failing during a five day increment.
JP: Jump Point - A point in space in a planetary system where gravitational influences cancel each other out. This allows a spacecraft equipped with a jump drive to temporarily stabilize surrounding space-time and instantly travel to a different JP in a different planetary system. A spacecraft can also use a jump gate, which is built on a JP by a specialized spacecraft, to permanently stabilize surrounding space-time.
JR: Jump Rating - A measure of the strength and area of effect of a jump drive. The first number is the number of spacecraft the jump drive can simultaneously transport. The second number is the radius of the jump drive's area of effect in thousands of km centered on the spacecraft carrying the jump drive.
LP: Lagrange Point - A point in space in a planetary system where gravitational influences partially cancel each other out. This allows a spacecraft equipped with a jump drive to temporarily stabilize surrounding space-time and instantly travel to a different LP in the same planetary system. Aurora uses the L5 LP of massive gas giants, which are 60 degrees behind these SBs in their orbital paths around their stars, as LPs.
MCR: Minimum Contact Range - The range in km at which a resolution 1 active sensor can detect missiles of Missile Size Point six or less.
MIRV: Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle - A missile with two stages where the second stage contains multiple sub-missiles.
MSP: Missile Size Point or Maintenance Supply Point - Missile Size Points are a measure of size for missiles and their components. One MSP is equal to 0.05 HS or 2.5 tons. Maintenance Supply Points represent resources used to repair ship systems while underway.
NPR: Non-player Race - A faction controlled by the computer instead of the player.
OOB: Order of Battle - A hierarchical list of the spacecraft, fighters, Fast Attack Craft, etc. that comprise a single force in a naval combat engagement.
OrdF: Ordnance Factory - A facility on a colonized System Body that manufactures ammo. The rate of production is the level of ordnance production rate technology modified by the ordnance production bonus of the planetary and sector governors, provided they have been appointed. Each OrdF requires 50,000 population to operate.
OWP: Orbital Weapon Platform - A spacecraft without engines in orbit around a System Body with a weapon system.
PD: Point Defense - Weapons used to defend a single point or region in space like a spacecraft or System Body. These include Anti-missile Missiles and Close-in Weapon Systems.
PDC: Planetary Defense Center - A facility on a colonized System Body with spacecraft components like sensor and weapon systems. Can also garrison ground forces units. PDCs are built using industry.
PPV: Planetary Protection Value - The amount of protection a spacecraft provides to nearby colonized System Bodies based on its weapon systems.
RGCS: Racial Ground Combat Strength - A percentage bonus to ground forces units during combat based on faction.
RM: Range Modifier - A multiplier that determines the max range of a beam weapon system.
ROF: Rate of Fire - The speed at which a weapon system fires in sec.
RP: Research Point - A measure of research cost or progress for new technology based on research lab facilities.
SB: System Body - A planet, chunk, trojan, comet, etc. in a planetary system that can be colonized and potentially mined for Trans-Newtonian minerals.
SI: Service Industry - The percentage of a colony's population working in industries other than agriculture and environment or manufacturing.
SM: Space Master - The impartial referee in a multiplayer game.
SP: Survey Point - A measure of gravitational or geographic survey cost or progress for planetary system gravitational or System Body geographic surveys, respectively.
SY: Shipyard - A facility on a colonized System Body used to assemble spacecraft, Orbital Weapon Platforms, Fast Attack Craft, etc.
TCS: Target Cross Section - The size of a vessel for purposes of active sensors.
TF: Terraforming Facility - A facility on a colonized System Body that is used to change the composition of the atmosphere of a System Body. Each TF can add or remove a quantity of atmosphere at a rate equal to the terraforming rate technology modified by the terraforming bonus of the planetary and sector governors, provided they have been appointed.
TH: Thermal - Used in the context of TH sensor, signature, etc.
TMA: Target Motion Analysis - An analysis of observed speed, Electromagnetic signature, and Thermal signature to determine an approximate size for spacecraft detected using Electromagnetic or Thermal sensors.
TP: Training Point - A measure of cost in wealth for training a ground forces unit.
TS: Tracking Speed - The speed in km / sec at which a beam weapon system can be aimed at a target.
WH: Warhead - The amount of damage a missile will inflict on a target.