Dilithium

[PTRACER]

Seen my number fluctuate from +4 to -1 to 0 over the course of a few turns with not much understanding of what this is for. The number of Dilithium systems I have conquered is not changing during this time, but I am constantly building ships. Can anyone explain what this feature is actually for?

[justanick]

In systems with the dilithium icon you can build dilithium refineries. While you power the refinery you gain dilithium. While you build ships you consume dilthium. So if you have 2 dilithium refineries running and are building ships in 3 different systems at the same time it will show 2-3=-1. The way the feature is meant to be is that negative dilithium will halt ship production. This is also they way it works in ECM.

In Vanilla it is different. There production only halts if more ships were to be finished in one turn than you have dilithium from dilithium refineries or special structuries like the rumulans have.

[PTRACER]

Ah ha. So it's used for ship BUILDING only? There's no limit to the size of my fleet (based on Dilithium anyway)?

[justanick]

Yes.

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

So it's used for ship BUILDING only?

Sadly an unfinished feature supposed for ship specific dilithium costs, global and local dilithium pools, a starting pool value & income and diplomatic trading options. But this would be way too much work.

There's no limit to the size of my fleet (based on Dilithium anyway)?

The idea to implement a ship support boosting structure output type (maybe restricted to dilithium systems) sounds not too bad.
(albeit in vanilla you can just scrap ships for credits to increase income for covering fleet support costs)

Another mod option is to allow the new '+% industry for ship construction' bonus only for dilithium systems.

[PTRACER]

Okay, thanks for the help! It seems going negative doesn't have as much impact as I thought (a bug?), but building too many ships does. I don't have enough money to run them all.

[Flocke]

I don't have enough money to run them all.

Scrap some built ships to get money.
And like justanick already posted, not the ship number under construction is what matters, but the number of ships that complete next turn. If you run out of dilithium for them, the ship production gets stalled.

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

Scrap some built ships to get money.

But keep in mind, even in vanilla, you need to scrap ships with 100% undamaged hull in a sector with a populated star system owned by the own empire to get their industry construction cost as credits bonus next turn.