Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

What about a temporary warp point creator, it would be a rather cheap component that would create a warp point but would collapse as soon as one ship got threw, And have another one that would allow a single fleet to get threw and then collapse and it would need to be repaired after use, this would make you have to have support ships for fleets that would need to be protected http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

I like Colonels idea mainly for the fact that it would be great for the inevitable SEV Babylon 5 Mod http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Tempoary warp points, One Way Warp Points and such, More options for modders http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

You know you can create one way warp points in maps i tend to this by accient, when i forget to add both sides of the warp point http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif but anyways

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

something i'd like to see is components/ cargo that can explode if the component cargo is destroyed. that way missiles in a magazine can blow the whole ship up if hit.

Also I'd like to see infinitely moddable levels of ship layers like an onion. layer 1 components would get hit first , layer two components later, all the way to the inner core layer x components. Ships could thus be modded in layers with tonnage sige divided in percents by ship class. Spherical ships would have more inner components than say elongated ships. weapons systems with armor penetration could be designed to skip x number of layers (or less or random).

Plus it would also be nice if certain weapon systems didn't have to be upgraded, such as missile launchers and gun components, but damage and range would be determined by their ammunition, thus providing two research streams, launchers and ammunition.

Lastly it would be nice if the targeting priorities of weapon system could be expanded. ie missile components would target ships but could be switched to point defence fire if required or desired.

i dont know but what do you think ? it should be programmable, moddable.

ggm

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

With some modifications (random tech selection), this could grow into fully chaotic research tree http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

Personal request:

* Missiles should be fully mountable.

* Mounts should affect all abilities: sheild regeneration, suuply generation, research points generation, etc.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Hehe - Money isn't an unnecessary element. It's crucial. One of the reasons Communist Russia fell and why a large portion of its military has defected or is sitting rotting in dry dock. As a communist empire, they didn't feel the need to pay for unnecessary things like resources or soldiers wages. So things fell apart.

Rome also ran on money. It's an excellent lubricant for the Empire. It provides an easy way to keep the local govenors inline and a way to bribe those who you want over on your side or to provide you with information.

Look at *any* successful empire (including modern day U.S.) and you will find a vibrant monetary and economic system in place. Without it, things don't run.

Furthermore, I think it would be interesting if each of the empires in the game had their own currency, the value of which would be based on their gross production output or a combination of populace happiness plus productivity. That way, you would have true economic powers (like you do today) as opposed to military powers.

I think something akin to that would add another level to the game.

Of course, as with the rest of the options, it would be able to be turned off for those of us who have the need to just blow the hell out of their neighbor http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Okay, back to work.
Cheers,
~Shane

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

SE:V requests... I'm sure these have been mentioned before but I'll just say em again. Before I start, I've only been on the SE:IV scene for... one week lol. The below suggestions are more related to my general observations of the game compared to current games... if you want SE:V to be more than a patched Version of SE:IV, I think you got to "popularize" it... but despite the old farts (j/k lol) saying what this will do to gameplay, I think it is still possible to preserve gameplay and make the game more attractive and accessible... If SE is ever to come out of its niche market and attract a general following... anyway these will be controversal suggestions that will probably not be accepted, and I will probably be flamed for this, but here it goes.

* 3D engine. SE:V does not have to turn into a RTS, but you should see 3D models superimposed on a background when viewing a specific system... and be able to travel through the system and click on planets ala homeworld would be nice, but maybe going overboard... have a highlighting option so small planets are not hard to see (in the 3D mode) ... fleets could be represented by the actual static 3D models... It does not have to be cutting edge graphics, but at least get rid of static camera angles... perhaps the two-dimensional overlay could be maintained, or even superimposed on a 3D viewscreen... for example, when you click on a planet on the grid map, the main background of the screen changes to a 3D view of the planet. The customizability of this 3D image for mods, etc could be maintained through a scripting language...

* make races come more "alive"... sounds, graphics, images, 3D customizable races similar to the current MMORPG thing where you can customize your character... you can make races come more alive without sacrificing customizability... like, you could have a screen when a player chooses a new race, he could rotate a 3D model around and choose which features to add/subtract... similar in sports games where you can customize the look of your character. Also have something where you can choose the voice of your race, and perhaps have diplomatic interactions between "talking heads"... customizability could be also maintained through downloads of new race voices, new 3D models for races, etc... and of course if you do a good job in the first place, the number of permutations for the look of your race should be endless... 3 tentacles? 2 eyes? body armor? green skin? pink skin? patterened skin?

* centralized server, sort of like Battle.net, where you log on with no hassles and are able to start games hassle free. You could maintain the PBW and PBEM features, but on the central server you could have blitz games or quick games. At the very *least*, you should implement a timer for in between turns.

Anyway. If the game is just going to be a rework of SE:IV, then so be it. But I'm of the opinion (and probably part of a small minority) that appreciates the incredible depth of SE:IV, but believes that it is possible to make it more accessible and asthetically pleasing without sacrificing gameplay.

IMO, you should throw out the 2D engine, and work with a 3D engine or get a license for one. (Wonder if Shrapnel Games could afford that lol) Just like Starcraft is the pinnacle of 2D Real-Time-Strategy gameplay and Fallout 2 the pinnacle of 2D isometric turn-based roleplaying, it looks like SE:IV is the pinnacle of 4x turn-based strategy. The only thing left to do is to do something truly innovative, like combine cutting edge graphics and customizability with the depth of SE:IV.

Now that would be something.

I'm ready for the flaming =D

Brian

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

SEIV will be using the 3d engine of Starfury.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

(+ various other suggestions for eye-candy)

ALl very cute, and it would be nice to look at, but Malfador's resources are limited and I would much rather that the hours and hours of coding time that went into your graphical upgrades were spent on differences that will actually *matter*.

People have suggested before now some kind of AI plug-in, that lets people code their own AIs in real programming Languages and then plug the compiled results into the game. Maybe similar plug ins could be used to allow the kinds of cosmetic uprgades suggested in the quoted post..?

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

im sure there will be more work done on patches and that once the game is out - and im sure MM will do what they did with SE4 and make big changes to each patch as each patch is brought out - once the game is out feedback can come in and aaron can make regular patches based upon said feedback.

I guess though that for the time being getting the game coded well on the basics - a big factor is getting the combat featuers worked out - 3d is a big jump

Rejigging the strategies aspect and even giving scrips and allowing the AI to learn how to play the player against the human ? - i know this is being attempted with c-evo project the AI there is well developed.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Statistic how much population killed. Now you can lok how much enemy ship tonnage your ship designs have destroyed, but I would like to know how big massacer I am http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

i would want to add an idea to this, i want to be able to keep track of all the ships i've lost and to who i lost them to

I want more use for the temproal triat perhaps be able to send ships into the future so you could have it disappear and reappear after a certian number of turns, this would allow you to build alot of ships and not pay maintance for a little while and then build up a fleet quickly

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Colonel's idea is good. Temporal race should be able to send a ship or a whole fleet in the future for some turns.

Also my this idea is propably presented before but I put it here anyway: Fleets within fleets. I wouldlike tidea to build specialized fleets with each of them with their own commands and tactics. THen they would gather under a mainfleet and move as one in the map. That way I could make it certain that several of my fleets appear in same spot in same time to battle.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

I've got a better Idea. Send warships back to previous turns. When it looks like the temporal race is about to be defeated a mighty warfleet arrives from the future where their word is law. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Yeah... YOu activate your "temporal reinforcements" facility and a huge fleet of your own ships blinks into existence. The snag is that you have to build all those ships within X turns (at the end of which they promptly disappear back into the past), or a temporal discontinuity destroys the facility- and the entire system it's in. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Gee, I know I was only kidding and I know you were just going along with the joke, but your idea might actually work. Make it so only a planet or system with say 40B people can build the facility and make it so you can choose the number of ships you can currently make (so you could "summon 1 ship" knowing you can esily build it later, or 20 ships and hope you can get them done in "time") If for example you only have 5 SY in the system multiply it by the number of turns to the future you call to and get the maximum you can summon.

Edit: mind you theres the Bill & Ted factor
"You forget, only the ones who win can come from the future" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

You have come to the wrong place if you want to be flamed my friend. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

Aaron Hall stated in the IRC #se4 chat sessions yesterday that SEV will have 3D models for system objects, ships, etc. It will have pausable (can issue orders while paused so it is just like turn based combats that queue up orders and have each side act simultanously for a turn) real time combat, but the rest of the game will still be turn based. It has a scripting language being built, which will primarily be used for the AI. It might also be used for events, to make them more powerful, and to be able to make events with triggers.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

You know, that sounds like an actually halfway decent way of balancing the temporal uber technologies! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

I disagree. I see no need at all for 3D graphics. I'd rather have better AI, additional commodities, new features such as governors or viceroys who could be assigned to oversee a particular sector.

A simple way to implement governors would be to make them so they provide certain modifiers for certain things. Governor Little Green Man A would provide a production boost. B would improve research, etc. They would work in much the same way as facilities that are already in the game, but would cost less in terms of resources, would provide a smaller positive modifier, and would be produced on the homeworld and sent out to the provinces. The more systems a governor is given to oversee, the smaller his/her/its positive modifier.

I don't see why some modder can't implement this now.

I don't see how focusing any programming energy on 3D graphics will make a better game. With all due respect to this poster, to me it's just eye candy. The gameplay is the thing. At least for an older gamer like me.

Through the years I've seen so much ballyhoo about 3D graphcs, and I've bought a lot of games featuring same. They look nice, but it has always been apparent that other areas are thinner because the programmers concentrated too much on creating a pretty picture.

Of course, I doubt that my opinion will mean doodly on this issue, because I doubt that many people here feel the same way. Oh well. People get all dreamy when they hear the term "3D," and that's that. It's kind of strange that people would prefer 3D combat and 3D system views to governors, new commodities, better diplomacy, a deeper economic system, etc.

But so be it. SE4 has come closer to being perfect than any game I have ever bought, and I'll still play it.

If SE5 comes out with a lot of fanfare and hype about 3D this and 3D that, I will have to take a very careful look at a demo before buying it. If there is no demo, I won't even consider buying it.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

SE5 will have a lot more improvement than just 3d graphics... For one thing, the diplomacy model will be greatly improved. No more rigid treaty types; we will be able to specify the exact nature of all agreements, down to what is traded, whether you can cross borders, etc. Read the chat session logs with Aaron Hall about SE5 to see a small glimpse at such new features:

http://se4irc.spaceempires.net/archives.php

Why would there be no demo? This is not some faceless corporation here... Aaron has no choice but to cater to the fans, or he won't make many sales...

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Malfador could very well be a faceless corporation depending on if Aaron managed to get to his wife and avoid the pot roast in time http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Personally I Think the 3d Thing will be cool, but from the rumours and answers malfador gave us from the chat sessions.... I think we can safely say this game will surpass SE4. [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/ooo.gif[/img]

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Yeah the improvements will be great. Hopefully there will be also inbox and outbox to Messages sent between empires.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

We should go back through this thread and tick off all the requested freatures that aaron said will be in se5.

Population migration, variable planetary population limits, mixed racial bonuses... I'm so happy.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Here's my 2 research points:

*Research not simply being a matter of 'accumulate point until you have enough to gain a tech, then repeat', but having an upkeep and storage space for technologies.
Technology could be 'stored' in research centers, and should you loose 'storage space' trough war, you would start losing tech. As a result, a great war could, in essence, bLast one or more participants back to the stone age. (or at least the nuclear age)
The upkeep in tech would also have an effect on this, and it would force players to expand or spend time on researching ways of storing more tech.
If you lose a tech, you would no longer be able to build ships using it, nor would you be able to repair certain components.

*Derelict alien vessels, which you could tow back to a planet for analysis or refitting. One Precursor (to steala Star Control term) vessel could just tip the scale of war in your favor. Off course, if certain parts of the ship were damaged, you'd have to replace them with inferior native technology.

*Far more mods for weapons, and other components too.
Including Point Defence (allows it to shoot at units/seekers), Heavy (bigger but heavier), Light (lighter but weaker), Long-range (longer range, but heavier), Short-range (lighter but shorter range), Cheap (cheaper but heavier, Expensive (lighter but more expensive), etc.

*Specific arcs for weapons and shields.

*Limited turning capabilities for ships in combat. The bigger the ship, the worse it turns.
Have components that make ships more agile.

*Have racial traits that cause races to use more Living Quarters and/or Life Support on ships.

*Allow empires to establish formal borders between them.

*More than one dimension. Let empires research certain technoligies to be able to create gates between them, or let them find natural gates that might appear and/or disappear at random.

*Massive siege weapons that allow shots from one or more sectors apart. Imagine having a few of those on a planet and being able to fire at an approaching fleet.

*Colonies producing and requiring a certain amount of food per turn.

*The ability to move planets, suns, or even solar systems.

*Multiple victory conditions, such as an economic victory, diplomatic victory, intelligence victory (install a puppet ruler in every other empire), leaving the galaxy trough some huge gate (*cough*Ring*cough*), or discovering some big Secret of the Universe.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

I'm sure someone has brought this up already...but I was going through SJ's Modding FAQ, and I was looking through the Abilities section. There are a few things in there that were not implemented in SE4. I do hope they are in SE5 at least for modding sake.

One of which that stuck out in my mind is the Palace ability. This would be a great ability to assign to say a Empire capital. If captured or destroyed, many things could happen from and out right loss of the game to, maybe just having to relocate, and getting a big hit in moral, and economics and such...

Kana

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

I never said it would make it a better game heh heh, its just one of my "wishes" like having someone do my laundry for me. I haven't tried starfury yet, but somehow I'm doubtful it can compete with the likes of the Doom 3 engine or Unreal 2k4 engine... so selling the game on its graphical merits would be a stupid idea. Don't overdo the "3D" promotion when ur selling it, or you'll be a laughing stock lol and it will turn off the die hard SE:IV fans (like Antonin =)

I think though there can be strategy in 3D... 3D combat introduces a whole new dimension. Also being able to customize the look of your race "in the game" without being a modder has some appealing aspects, roleplaying and such. Imagine rather than requiring a graphics artist to draw your shipset, you could customize the look of your ships "in the game".

I dunno if anybody has mentioned this, but there should be improvements to the music. Hell, forget 3D. If SE:V was exactly SE:IV but with an incredible soundtrack, I would get it just for that. Do the music and sound effects right this time. Having audio for the built-in races and maybe 20-30 voice sets for people to choose when building their empire would be awesome too... I liked Dues Ex not because its graphics were cutting edge, but because I loved its music =)

Also the RPG elements. I wonder if adding in more native RPG elements would be a possibility... for example, designing your leader, along the lines of Antonin's "governor" idea, but being able to design a leader archetype for your race... maybe the leader gains "experience" as he makes good decisions, and dies off after a certain number of turns, leaving his progeny with a percenatge of his predessor's experience al la Romance of the Three Kingdoms... when the leader dies, there could be a short period where another empire could take advantage of it. The diplomacy model of Romance of the Three Kingdoms was one of the most fun things about it.

Culture should have more effect than just percentage modifiers on building and research and the like, it should actually affect your diplomatic interactions with other races. Combining RPG elements such as leaders, artifacts, actual diplomacy/spies may be too much detail, but who complains about more detail in a kind of game like this. Hell, I wouldn't even object to ships' captains, we have fleet experience already why not have an actual "military" screen where you can promote/appoint governors/admirals/captains and the such.

Anyway maybe I'm from a different generation. But the most important thing to me is having the races come "alive" somehow, and the game come "alive". The atmosphere of the game is generally lacking. I don't know how to put it into words. Bad music + dated graphics are possibly the only turn-offs from reaching a wider audience. You underestimate today's gamers if you believe the detail of SE:IV turns them off. Gamers today play incredibly complex games with complex "tech-trees" and complex strategies. If there was a better implementation al la better graphics, or more accurately "atmosphere", I'm sure SE:V will have more sales. Get a freaking good composer to do the music, pay him whatever you have to. People will buy the game just for the soundtrack

There are some who will stick to their eye-candy, and there will always be some who stick to their strategy. But I don't believe these concepts have to be mutually exclusive (as I said before lol), and can complement each other. So called Eye-Candy can add to strategy, and certain strategies can be eye-candy. etc.

Brian

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Who will be playtesting the game? Is there going to be some kind of selection process in this forum, or will the playtesters just be "insiders"?

I will admit that I am skeptical about what type of game SE5 will be (sorry, I have not read the chat logs yet). It would be nice if some people who are not insiders can take part in the playtesting process. I can't even remotely call myself an insider, but I did help Atrocities develop a race...

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

A few players will be insiders, a few will be selected from the Race to SE5 tournament, and the rest will be chosen by lottery, Last I heard.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Yeah. Aaron likes to bring in lots of fresh blood for each new game... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

SJ has a Modding FAQ? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif Hmm... I like that smiley. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Such as? Please name one modern non-niche game that can even approach the complexity of a game like SE4.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/...ri/review.html

Enough said lol. Anyway SE:IV isn't niche, at least not in my opinion. And its not the complexity that makes SE:IV shine I think, its the way they organized it, especially the tech tree... and the customizability. No, no other game can compare to SE:IV. But its in a league of its own, so oh well lol.

And FPS do require a different kind of skill... timing is everything. Rather than having as much time as you would like to decide whether to run towards the guy who is throwing the grenade at you, you have a few seconds to make that simple decision. RTS too, a different kind of skill.

About SE:IV... I dunno why people have mentioned turns taking hours. So far I'm taking only a few minutes per turn... simple as checking that my research hasn't run out, designing a couple new ships, and going through my fleet/planet screens to make sure all my ships have orders and all my colony ships are moving... I wonder if joining five games will eat into my time later and it will take five hours for all five turns lol... anyway, I've made most of my "strategies" in my head in my "spare" eg when I'm supposed to be studying or concentrating on frying chicken spare time lol... (don't know if you can call them "strategies", but I was pretty proud when I figured out you could put a planetary napalm on a colony ship and surprise people lol)Anyway the past paragraph was OT so ignore =)

Anyway I think I mentioned in my previous Posts that SE:IV was in a league of its own. What is really appealing is the Theoretical/Applied research aspect. The unique and rich tech tree is what makes SE:IV shine I think, and that kind of mentality should be carried on to SE:V.

There was a post before about different mounts. I totally agree. Weapons should have more differences than rate of fire, damage and range... they should be truly unique and apart from each other. The post a few pages back about different kind of mounts... long range/short range/extended range/high cost/high damage really made sense to me. Perhaps there could be a certain rock/papers/sissors element to weapons... certain weapons better against certain armors.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

I have a question for you. How long has your longest game gone for?. When starting it takes about 30 seconds to do the turn, but obviouslly gets longer the larger your empire. Some of us may be perfectionists who must make sure of everything each turn (and the latest feature to save during a turn is in my mind the greatest added). When you have 200 planets and 400 ships it takes at least an hour to check every planet and allocate the most effcient work. Transports must be moved from system to system topping up initial colonies etc. I only started to do well when I was prepared to micro-manage everything.

Edit: why is this all bold http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

So that means the possibility that someone like me can have any involvement in the process is between zero and none. I play SE4 a lot, but my involvement in this forum has been only a matter of stopping by every now and then. I don't even know what the Race to SE5 tournament is. And I don't have much luck with lotteries. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smirk.gif

Aaron is probably a very busy fellow. Does he read this thread, or are ideas from this thread passed on to him by those of you who are "insiders"?

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

I haven't... ahem finished a game yet. I'm a total newbie lol.

Honestly though. Using the planets screen you can go to each individual planet and allocate queues. I'm guessing some turns would be longer than most... but I see most of the time taken in running simulator tests and designing ships. Using the fleets screen you could direct fleets go go in which direction and whatnot. At most, I see a turn taking 30 min. There is a load queue button, for new planets. There is a send colony ship button. (Does anybody know exactly how this works? Does it always send the closest colony ship?) and 200 ships... I imagine the majority being in one/a few fleets, with a few scout ships and whatever.

Perfectionist or not, after playing around 10 games or so, I'll have this turn thing nailed down =)

Anyway I'll shut my mouth now, until I actually play a complete game (and win). Disregard above post =)

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Antonin, Aaron has added all the ideas from this thread into his master list of ideas for SEV. He does read it and he does record all the good ideas.

Also, your chances of getting on a Beta slot for SEV is just as high as the rest of us here. Alot of times Aaron will choose a beta tester based on their machine so that he can test the game on all platforms and system specs. So when the applications become available fill it out and you will have just as good of a shot as we long time members of this forum do.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

But your chances of getting on the beta test team for a 'big name' game (err, Homeworld 3, Civ IV, MOO 4 if some miracle delivers the rights to a decent company?) are drastically less. The SE community is tiny compared to the communities for these other games.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

That is not a modern game. It came out before SE4 even. :P That, and it is slightly less complex, due to combat being very simplified, with just a handful of stats, and combat being resloved on a unit vs. unit basis... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

I am in a game were I have over 1100 planets and 4500 ships in the fleet. I don't Micro manage and it still takes 3 hours to do a turn. (BTW I don't have the largest fleet) I am not sure how many "MEGA" SEIV games are out there or are played but unmanagable games are a bane in 4X games the larger you get the more you have to be aware of and keep in mind. So with that said
1.at a glance be able to know which systems have Resupply, Recource converters, Empty que Yards, all the other system wide enhancer faclities, and what each system and planet has in storage and what ships/fleets are in system and at the same time see what is in nearby systems.
2. In the ship list be able to return to the Last ship you picked (just like the message screen)
3. Be able to only look at one class of ship at a time
4.bulk faclity orders for planets(choose 10 planets and tell them all to build a Ship yard)
5.Strategy screen that shows the path of a fleet or ship how they get from system to system.

I think there are a few more admin things that can be done just can't remember them. SEIV is a great game can't wait until SEX (Space Empires Ten) When it will be a virtual reality thing and you step into the role of Emperor or Empress.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Virtual reality SEX. Theres a game I'm sure would make a fair bit of money (while getting Malfador sued for false advertising). I could say more but theres only so much inuedo one can handle. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Edit: damn that bold, even my sig is affected.
SJ: Just close the bold tag, or stop quoting bad UBB code! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

The problem is that Gozra seems to have added a bold tag at the beginning of the quote text, but not a closing bold tag.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

This can already be done. Just go into the "Construction Queues" window (F7), shift-click all the planets/bases you want to build on, then click multi-add. Everything you add to the que here will be added to all of the locations you shift-clicked (they'll be shown with green arrows).

PS. I especially like your #1. Would be very handy to see system wide facilities present in systems. (can already see what systems have resupply and spaceports)

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

No, it can't be done. You can not use multi-add to add facilities, which is what Gozra was requesting.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

That is not a modern game. It came out before SE4 even. :P That, and it is slightly less complex, due to combat being very simplified, with just a handful of stats, and combat being resloved on a unit vs. unit basis... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[/quote]

Oh well I did say SE:IV was in a league of its own. Are we not restricting to turn based games? Well I'd have to say that's cheating, because turn-based games have infinitely more complexity than real time games, like pitting console games against computer games lol. Anyway, the thing that would make SE:IV better IMO is ATMOSPHERE (<----- Aaron see that please lol). The graphics are flat and dull, the music sucks, and you have to be a computer programmer to customize your race.

That and some sort of dedicated server/chat room where you could join and play real-time games (could still be turn based with a timer a la Age of Wonders before heat.net got dissolved).

Brian

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

"Upgrade Facilities" button might be improved.

E.g. I have just researched IntelligenceIII facilities, and if I press "Upgrade Facilities", all planets with default construction rate (2000) now take 2 turns to build it. It is better to fill planet with Intel-2 facilities and then upgrade them to level 3. So I must go to planet construction window and manually change the queques back.

It would be nice to have one more button, which upgrades facilities only if the newer facility takes the same time to build as the obsolete one.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

SE4 is one of the few games that I own (and I own a lot) where the music is exactly appropriate to the gameplay. Even though you can play the game without the CD, I often put the CD in so I can hear the music as I play.

With most games the music is just a waste of CD space. (Star Craft is one exception; Cleopatra and Caesar III are others) With SE4, the music is just right.

I compose similar "darkwave" music myself. Does anyone know if Aaron will use any user-created music in SE5?

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

I'm very happy to see that what we are saying here does get to Aaron. I'm just concerned that somebody who plays SE4 a lot and has 3,463 Posts here will be listened to more than a person who plays SE4 a lot and has, say, 60 Posts here. Posting a lot does not mean one's ideas regarding SE5 are necessarily better. But I guess I have no control over how ideas are perceived by Aaron or anybody else.

I will certainly fill out an application for a beta testing position. I hope I have better luck with that than I've had filling out employment applications in the real world.

BTW, I think I qualify as a "long time member" of this forum. I have been a member since June 2001.

It's just that I lurk far, far more than I post. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

FYI: The 'culled' list of suggestions that come from here does not include 'useless info' like post counts. Any and all suggestions are welcome, and what makes a suggestion more 'interesting' is if there are several people 'wishing' for the same thing. If the list had 1000 sugestions and no two were tha same, chanches are very few will end up in the game.

This is a good place to discuss different ideas, and if you take the time to read the two chat transcripts from the Last #se4 guest speaker "Aaron Hall" befor making your suggestions, you will have a good idea where the game is heading.

After all is said and done, rest assured Aaron listens to ALL sugestions, and will do his best to incorporate the more interesting 'tweaks' as sugested here.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

I personally really liked the idea brought out a couple pages back about the temporal facility. This facility would allow you to bring ships from the future to this time to help fight a battle, but then you would have to build those ships by that date or else suffer some sort of major penalty. Perhaps the first facility would only allow you to bring ships from a few months in the future, but an advanced facility would allow you to bring in years from the future. The idea was brought out more clearly in previous Posts.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

It would probably be easy to make a temporal ship yard:
The yard would complete the ship as soon as you ask for it, but then spend X turns working on the ship and be unavailable.

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

That's a cool idea but has one fatal flaw. What if you request a ship for immediate use -- like in defense of the planet where the Temporal Space Yard is located -- and lose the battle. If the TSY is destroyed by orbital bombardment on the same or next turn after completing the ship, is it possible for the ship to have been completed in the 'future' after the battle? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif

I think the 'time slip' device to give a certain fixed percentage chance of being 'elsewhen' and avoiding weapon hits that would otherwise have occured is a better use of the temporal concept. (A flat chance for weapons to miss even if they get their 'to hit' percentage.) Also, some sort of 'time slowing' device for bogging down or completely stopping your enemy (think 'stasis device' from MOO) would also be nice. With actual tracking of supplies in SE we could give the device a very high supply usage, too, and set a practical limit to its use. Anyway, both devices are contained in the combat context and don't create strategic problems because of conflict between game events and the operation of the device(s).

Re: SE5, Tell Aaron what\'s on your Wish List
 

Yeah, bending time rather than breaking prevents a lot of crazy things. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Temporal shields might be nice...
The damage dealt to the ship is delayed for a couple combat rounds, and then it only hits the ship after you've fired back with a volley or two http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif.