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Hahahaha... LOL!!!

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Thats particularly funny for me.

One of my seiv sigs has always been...
HURRY UP! I know technology is moving fast but Im old. And I refuse
to check into an old folks home that doesnt have a HoloDeck or a Direct
Neural Interface. I want to be playing (hmmm not SEV, SEVI, not SEIX)
OH YEAH, I want to be playing SEX!

And now a friend of mine at a well known company is working on a hardware project that an NDA keeps me from discussing openly. But let me say that the above statement is much truer than it was a month ago.

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Hypothetically if you were to take SE4 and add/remove features this is how it would play out

Add

Effortless/Just Works TCP/IP the currently se4 implmentation is a nightmare

Weird Worlds Retun to Infinite Space style 2d graphics keeps the game looking very spiffy yet does't bog down the hardware and is easy to mod

As completely open modability as possible se4 was sure a good start but games like Civ4 have taken it to the level where you can mod almost any part of the game from AI scripting to extensive UI reduxs

More specific changes would be more detailed and fair ground and space combat and better research and intel systems

Different modes of tranportation possible, FTL, jumpdrives ect.. not just the very static WP system se4 uses

More to come when I have something easier to type on then my G1

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And continuing...

Beta testing! Listen to your testers don't release before it is ready. From my experience Shrapnel is pretty good about this but I want to make sure it stays fresh in your mind :)

Also I think hiring on some of the great se4 modders for the dev team would be a good idea. A few names come to mind and I can provide a list if it is wanted.

back to features

Make the game scale to different resolutions effortlessly. I run my desktop at 2048x1152 and se4 becomes quite the small little box(using SJ's windowed SE4 tool)

Descriptive error windows! nothing is more frustrating to have something go horribly wrong and never know what caused it(also useful for modders)

ease of use features are a must for late game play when you have 300+ planets and thousands of ships! Minimal clicks(something se5 failed horribly on and the main reason I don't play it)

Already been mentioned but a quality map/scenario editor is a must.

water planets and multiple friendly races have colonies on the same planet like one in the ocean and one on land(this goes along with total modability though)

Everyone on the team that has any say in how the stock gameplay works must play SuicideJunkie's Carrier Battles mod the poster child for balanced and fun gameplay

Ship the game with mods! alot of people still don't use websites and download things for some reason so make sure the game gets to modders early(like have them on the beta team) so they can have finished mods to ship on the game cd/dvd

PBW intergration: have the game automagically send/recieve turns from the PBW system so theres no file moving needed. Also this goes along with having the right people in the beta/dev team make sure the game is supported by PBW (pbw.spaceempires.net) and make the standards open so anyone can make their own PBW implementation maybe even have an official site/server

hopefully still more to come once I gather more thoughts into words

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My 2 cents,

Make sure the interface is clean, simple, and intuitive. Think Apple.

Make multiplaying & matchmaking effortless. Think Xbox Live.

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:idea: Larger combat map with a limitation on ship numbers in combat.

:idea: Have ship combat based like ground combat, so many turns of combat per game turn. This will allow for retreat and reinforcement of fleet elements (especially if there are limits imposed as to number of ships in combat) between turns. It will also make fighters more valuable as an attrition unit.

:idea: Eliminate formations as they are only used in setup. After that they are useless.

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Add the range of view in the system depending on the level of sensors used.

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Fog of War :confused: A ship that can travel through space that can't see an entire system? (I'm not talking about cloaked or stealthy units) It's just like saying you have a car that's going 50 mph., and you can only see 10 ft. in front of it. Doesn't make sense to me. Maybe I'm not getting your point (please explain), I'm sorry if that's the case Q.

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Don't forget that the ship travel takes 1/10 of a year! Therefore I think the sensor range as used in SE V is quite reasonable. You can of course discuss (and mod) if you should see planets (and everything else) at any distance but I like it very much to explore a new solar system. The only real problem I see with the sensor range is the increased computer calculation times it takes to display a system with many ships.

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That is the problem of what you propose Q. The resources required to filter what's seen and what isn't (and how the AI deals with it) would be tremendous, and at what cost to playability and functionality. While FoW is great, I don't believe that it would add any REAL reason to include it in the game. Maybe you could give an example of what possible circumstance or uses that the limited sensor range could create for game enhancement? Most games that have FoW, the AI sees everything in the game because to write AI routines to handle FoW are extensive.

As far as SEV, I played the demo and decided that I did not like the game. So any references to SEV will have to be elaborated.

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At this point I would have to ask Shrapnel to throw out most of our suggestions. :)

Well at least table them. If it speeds things up Id rather see a release with a few fixes and easy expansions, and then later a more involved release. We can pile on requests until the project becomes a "soon to be released in fall of 2020" (and my own suggestions are probably the worst in that area)

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The way sensors work now in SE V is pretty much what I want. And on my four years old computer I don't have more than 3-4 seconds at maximum for a system display with several hundreds ships. At least in Kwok's Balance Mod the AI can handle the limited sensor range quite well. I just play at the moment a SE V game where the AI surprised me with a fleet attack, that would not have been a surprise if I could see all of the systems I have at least one ship/unit/colony in it.
The best solution would be to make this an option in the game setup.

And Gandalf, I think the aim of this topic created by Shrapnel was just to get as many ideas as possible. Which of them they use/realize is of course completely their decision. But if they want to sell the game it might need a little bit more than "a few fixes and easy expansions" IMO.

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That's a good example Q and I see what your talking about. But do you really think that you could hide a sizable fleet within a system without some notice or residual traces of it being there? I think you could probably see them with the Hubble Telescope if it were positioned to view that system. Maybe a small squadren or patrol but not a full battle fleet.

GP, you are right! :cool: But Tim asked for ideas and to NOT post them, would be a grave sin against humanity and the whole gaming community!!! :D

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Definetly post. Im not saying not to.
Just wanted to separate the deeep discussions from what originally felt like quicky "what do we absolutely have to include" suggestions. Splitting it allows everything to go into a "keeper" file for different releases.

The deep changes are cool. I just didnt want it to add years to a release. And Im including my own suggestions in that. I suppose that others would have just said something like "thats never going to happen" (and probably gotten less comment on it)

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I have to agree with Gandalf Parker, I think everyone would appreciate half of a finished, polished product than and a half-assed project. New features can be added in after the release date via patches and, naturally, expansion packs.

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Bottom line is, FLEXIBILITY.. Kinda like the very old program UMS (Universal Military Simulator). Movement system, combat system, all variables added by user.

"Build it and they will come!" and play... :cool:

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Heh, UMS sounds a bit like HAM (Suicide Junkie's "strategy game engine"), only not quite as abstracted!

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It's pretty much what The War Engine (TWE use to be a Shrapnel game, now at Matrix) was based off of. One of the limitations of TWE was the small map, not so in UMS. Unit creation, terrain, even combat modifiers for game used functions. I still have the game, but I don't even know if it will run on XP as I have not had it installed on anything since my Win98SE, P333! :doh:

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Firstly, I'd suggest you check out Se.net and read up of the SE 6 wish-list forum. It covers a fair bit to say the least. I think the majority agree that SE IV makes a better base for a future version, although SE V (I'm told), has a better ability to develop the AI players with more flexiblity.
I played SE III back in 1995, SE IV since 2006. One point that comes to mind, is that SE III was more sensible on planetary production, in that the shipyard WAS a shipyard and was seperate from planet production. SE IV got that wrong.
Any new game needs to allow Modders more flexibility, and if possible (big ask), an open ended list of abilities. Whilst SE IV had a fair list, it was limited too much.
As for fans, eve though SE IV is almost 11 years old, I notice over 700 copies of my Skywalker Mod have been downloaded over the last 12 months, thats dam impressive and a testiment to the basic good foundation of SE IV itself.
A personal point, whilst fantastic graphics are nice, its gameplay that really counts. More scenarios would be good (I'm working on some now), and characters with speech (ala Imerium Galactic II) would be a must these days. I'll come back when I have more ideas...
PS I m so pleased to think you are heading in this direction :D

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Ahh for a scenario editor... :angel

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Ive been playing SEIV and Dominions 3 back and forth for the last month (no money for new games), dwelling on the things that make me love them both equally. And the differences.

One thing I realized is that for ME at least one thing that SEIV had over Dom3 was something that lent an RPG factor for my character. With Dom3 you dont really manage the provinces you take. You simply use them to recruit bigger armies.

With SEIV there were facilities and events which made me feel more like a leader that had to also take care of the empire. Yes they all had impact on war-capabilities. But some of the planets could be primed for specific purposes. Such as an optimum world, facilities which increased growth, fighting off a plague, these things gave me the feel of one planet being a Ryssa party-world to be protected. There wasnt alot of it. But SEIV does have more of a feel for managing an empire than Dom3 does. In fact it was probably a pretty good level. Not so much as to feel like micro-managment, but enough for some variety and rpg.

Just thought Id mention it. Id hate to see it left out in favor of more war-game.

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I don't think you have any worries there. The SE 4.5 project has discussed this, and adding some characters like heros or traders etc. has been mentioned. I think I also said more Scenarios would be good (I'm adding a few to SE IV). Possibly a few suggestions on additional facility types may be useful. We have considered seperate ones for building units AND components... :-)

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Well I am a registered beta with an NDA on file *hint hint*.

Facilities for components? Im not sure on that one. Im a big fan of really large maps. The facility would become obsolete as you expand away from that planet. Unless there were components which took so much time and resources to build that they are not good considerations for front-line building making it reasonable to create them far behind the lines and ship them forward.

I havent thought on it. But Id probably consider along the line of planet and system specialization to keep the SEIV feel. Something like, maybe a Solar Powerplant to make use of multiple-sun systems. Not sure what it would do. Maybe beam the power out so that any of my ships in that sector use are continually refueled (which would be nice for prospecting).

Maybe a Capital structure? or Embassy?

Speaking of Embassy reminds me. I love that I can communicate and trade with the AI's but I have a long list of suggestions about that. :)

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Solar Power Plants already exist, they simply provide resources, although you could make them act as a resupply unit, hm delete std resupply and make the solar power plant do that job! As for components, its related to having the ability to sell them to, or buy them from Traders. Also because you can build them, and perhaps move them to were they are wanted. Also if you upgrade your tech and they become obsolete, you can sell them to traders who might sell them to someone else, perhaps even to the Mercenaries LOL
Probably you should read up on it here -> http://www.kenvsthecity.com/se45/

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Oh *DUH* this is the other project, not the one this thread was started on?

I would like to go read up on that. But times are hard. And altho Im technically retired Im trying REALLY hard to keep to the limits set by "the budget master" to only invest my time into sites that she sees as possibly leading up to extra income. At least for now.

Gandalf Parker

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Grit Econ did something like this, IIRC.

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Did everyone see? Did you notice?
Shrapnel Games Announces Star Legacy!
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=44830

Hmmm... maybe I shouldnt have mentioned it. This might be test to see if people who use the free forums actually use the site that hosts it. (hint hint nudge nudge)

--
Don't get me a great ship and a few stars with a few options.
Give me a Universe and unlimited options.

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That sounds very interesting. And I am glad they allow enough time for development and testing.

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Woot!
Can't wait until some screenies are released, should give a nice idea on how the game will look and feel.
Thanks for the heads up Gandalf!
Now go program! ;) :D