I'm playtesting PR #2674 for allied repairs and I need help understanding how allied supply works, both the mechanics and the exact meanings of the colors reach on the starlanes.
We have two allied empires: green (Oberlus) and yellow (Oberlus2). Both are Chato, with roughly the same tech queue.
See AlliedSupplyExampleEarly.png.
At the turn the first yellow colony arrived to Garriot, green had colonised small Stràla, with supply 2, and Garriot was already coloured green, up to half the starlane towards the empty space between Garriot and Hadar alpha.
The supply at Crystous was also 2. The supply at large Garriot once colonised was 0.
After colonisation, the yellow Garriot colony couldn't reach Crystous supply group, half the starlane towards there was green and half grey:
First doubts:
1. Why green Stràla's 2 supply does not reach the empty space between Garriot and Hadar alpha, that is at 2 hops from Stràla, and Crystous' 2 supply does reach?
2. Is supply value at that empty space for both empires zero, and one gets supply domination (at random, by whoever got there first, etc.) and the other doesn't?
3. What's the exact meaning of those half-coloured starlanes?
4. Why the two empires supply group does not connect if both of them could reach that empty space? Maybe because it is zero-supply although being coloured?
Getting back to the newly created yellow Garriot colony, when yellow small Hadar beta is colonised in turn 19, the colours change (see attachment AlliedSupplyExampleMid.png):
From yellow empire perspective, Garriot is surrounded in green, the starlane to the empty space is half green (garriot end) and half yellow (empty space end), and the outer (thick) colour is yellow.
From green empire perspective (the one in the attachment) the only change with respect yellow perspective is that the outer (thick) lines are green.
Since that moment yellow Garriot colony can draw PP's from Crystous supply group because of single-empire supply mechanics.
More doubts:
1. The inner, thin colour of the starlanes/systems does express the supply dominance over that space, isn't it?
2. The outer, thick colour does express supply groups, right?
3. Green has dominance over Garriot but, since both empires are allied, yellow can supply that system because:
a) Allied supply allows a single-empire supply group to not be splitted by their allies' colonies supply even when they dominate the supplied systems.
b) Allied supply allows that several single-empire supply groups disconnected among them become connected through their allies supply groups.
c) Although the colours seems to show that green dominates that system and only him can supply it, it is actually yellow empire who is supplying that system by simple single-empire supply mechanics and not related to allied supply.
4. Check out the empty space with six starlanes next to Beylix alpha and gamma (call it 6s): why the starlane that connects this 6s space to the one west of Beylix gamma (call it Wg)? Verbena has supply 2 and is at two hops from Wg and from 6s, Beylix gamma has supply 1 as is at 1 hop of Wg and of 6s. I don't understand why one of this 6s space has outgoing starlanes half coloured towards systems out of supply while Wg space doesn't.
Current state (see attachment AlliedSupplyExampleLate.png):
Yellow has
- HW at Crystous.
- 1st colony: large at Garriot.
- 2nd colony: small at Hadar beta.
- 3rd colony: medium at Beylix gamma.
- HW at Verbena.
- 1st colony: small at Stràla.
- 2nd colony: medium at Beylix gamma.
By making yellow gift Garriot to green I confirmed (did I?) that PPs are transferred between disconnected supply groups through allied supply: after two turns yellow Beylix gamma is still able to draw from Crystous supply group.
So, is the rule of this mechanic something like "if two supply groups A1 and A2 of empire A do overlap with the same supply group B1 of allied empire B, then supply groups A1 and A2 are can share PP supply but are not considered as a single supply group"?
I attach the images in following posts because of problems when editing (some disapear after resubmitting).