New features I would like to see>>>>
 

This one would not effect game play at all, but would be nice to have for role playing.


I would like to see date stamps added to planets and ships.
For ships, it would show when they were first build. This would help in tracking their history.
For planets, when they were colonized.
This I would really like.


This is a maybe.....
Maybe even a history log for each ship and planet.

For ships, showing the battles they have been in and the kills they hve made. 5 battles, 3 kills and the dates for these.

Would be removed when the ship is scrapped or distoryed.

Once a ship is distroyed/scrapped then maybe a log showing the ship name and the date it was losted. so at the end of the game, You can review the total number of ships you owned and losted.

For planets---the battles and maybe the events that they have gone through. Would be deleted when the planet pop is distroyed, if captured then the history would show the date of the capture for the new owner, plus all prior history.

I also would like a history log that shows the total number of ships I killed against a race and the number of ships I lost to them.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Do you have any idea how big this would the save file? Even a textfile would have to massive. You often create ships in the thousands in a long game, and give billions of orders in a game. If every single little order given to a ship or planet was saved it would produce a massive file.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Not every order. Let me try again.

I create a ship escort called scout 1

I view that ship, there is a entry under it's name, class that shows it was commissioned on stardate 2400.1
(this is doable as it only requires a new entry field.)

Now for the hsitory file....only can be seen by owner of ship. (maybe an intell attack to get history file.) this is a maybe.
I view the ship history
commissioned on 2400.1
battle with phong on 2404.3
battle with phong on 2405.1
killed 3 ships
battle with phong on 2405.3

Now for planets


entry file on planet view under planet discription.
Current colony started on 2407.3
(very doable, does not change the game any, just adds a tag.)

history file: (seen only by owner) a maybe...
colony started 2407.3
attacked by phong 2408.2
attacked by phong 2408.3
(if planet captured by phong all above and this is what they would see.)
captured by phong 2408.4
planet riots 2410.1

IF all pop dies then history file is cleared.

log file>>>>

1200 ships lost to phong to date.
1000 phong ships killed to date.
500 ships scrapped to date.
6000 ships built in history of race.




[This message has been edited by Dracus (edited 06 November 2001).]

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Again I state this would be a huge file. Think about how many ships you make in a single game. Think about how many battles you go through in a single game, even minor ones. Planets are the same way.

Now if it only kept current ships history and deleted a ships history once it was destroyed it wouldn't be to bad. Later in the game it would get pretty big, especially if you were playing in a big quadrant.

Don't get me wrong I would love to see this feature, it could just turn out to be incredibly problematic.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Yes if the ship is lost then the history for that ship would be deleted and the counter in the total file would be increased by 1.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

It wouldn't be any larger than the game file. Figure:

1000 ships. 20-30 lines per ship. Each line 10-12 bytes (once you compress the information into numbers). That's 300 kB or so.

In a 20-player game, the .gam files *starts out* around that size and gets bigger http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

LL/Eric

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

The date stamp is doable and I agree it would be a good idea at least for colonies. All you'd need is an extra word because you only need to record the turn number. I doubt anyone is gonna play 65,535 turns on SE IV. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif Besides being informative for the player, this could be used in the game code. A 'new' colony would be much more susceptible to panic when bad events happen, but stability would increase as the colony aged. An 'old' colony would be a more severe morale loss to the empire if it was destroyed.

The other ideas might be 'cool' but others have already observed that they might become nightmares in memory and disk space usage, not to mention bookkeeping code in the game itself.

[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 06 November 2001).]

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

This feature could be done in a separate file (like other .trn files), and it musn't be send to the other players in the .gam file.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Back in the old days, Star General used to have a section where it showed how many total ships, ground units, etc, each race built and the total number destroyed. Maybe something on this order could be done taking up less space then breaking it down in more individual staticitics.

They broke it down according to ship and unit types.. ie; battleships, cruisers, etc
They would show say 5 battleships built, 4 destroyed, 10 cruisers built, 7 destroyed, etc

just some ideas mac

[This message has been edited by mac5732 (edited 07 November 2001).]

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Some new abilities:
- "Explodes when destroyed"
When this component takes enough damage to be marked as destroyed, it will apply an extra [Value 1] points of damage to the ship, of damage type [Value 2].

With this ability, you can have supply storage tanks and/or weapons explode when they are hit, and even "StarTrek" style warpcores that usually destroy the ship when the enemy gets a lucky hit.

- Planet - Tractor Beam
All ships within a distance of [Value 2] have an increased maximum movement of [Value 1].

This ability would allow you to move engineless crippled ships back to base for repairs, if they are close enough to the tractor beam facility. You could also launch interceptor ships faster than their normal movement, to help defend against enemy incursions.
A long chain of planets with Tractor beam facilities would form a sort of highway, moving ships across your empire quickly, at the expense of many facilities.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
Some new abilities:
- "Explodes when destroyed"
When this component takes enough damage to be marked as destroyed, it will apply an extra [Value 1] points of damage to the ship, of damage type [Value 2].

With this ability, you can have supply storage tanks and/or weapons explode when they are hit, and even "StarTrek" style warpcores that usually destroy the ship when the enemy gets a lucky hit.

- Planet - Tractor Beam
All ships within a distance of [Value 2] have an increased maximum movement of [Value 1].

This ability would allow you to move engineless crippled ships back to base for repairs, if they are close enough to the tractor beam facility. You could also launch interceptor ships faster than their normal movement, to help defend against enemy incursions.
A long chain of planets with Tractor beam facilities would form a sort of highway, moving ships across your empire quickly, at the expense of many facilities.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I remember someone was posting a while back that he had suggested the 'additional damage when destroyed' ability to MM and it was promised in an upcoming patch. Must be one of those things that gets forgotten in the rush of bug fixes. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif So, suggest it again. It would be a cool ability to have. Especially as a balancing factor for some bad-*** weapon. If your ship/fleet manages to wipe out the enemy quickly, no problem. But if combat goes on for a while and you start taking internals, ouch...

Planet tractor beam is not necessary if the existing tractor beam could work on the strategic map. Some sort of 'rule' for fleets could be created that would save a lot of complicated interface additions. Movement averaging between ships that have at least one tractor beam and ships that are slower than the average value for the entire fleet, for example. Even a simple +1 movement to damaged ships if there's at least one 'partner' ship in the fleet that is faster and has a working tractor beam. As long as they can have some sort of effect it's good.

[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 08 November 2001).]

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

1. Positive Random Events
2. Wheel Mouse Support
3. Add AI Aggression Text files.
4. Add feature to set individual Race Tech level from Begginer to Advanced.
5. Add feature to build que that would allow player to ADD X item in all empty construction que's for building.
6. Add Statistic information that breaks down your population by Race, Type of Atomosphere they breath, and Population Numbers.
7. An ENGAGE or FLEE option to battle. Gives player the option of leaving a battle zone in order to preserve player fleet prior to battle. If Flee is used, no battle occurs, if Engage is used, then option for Stratigic or Tatical combat.
8. Improved AI responses to Political situations.
9. Improved AI willingness to offer trades of technology or other.
10. Speed up the time it takes to make turns.

------------------
New Age Ship Yards

"We've made too many compromises already, too many retreats! They invade our space and we fall back -- they assimilate entire worlds and we fall back! Not again! The line must be drawn here -- this far, no further! And I will make them pay for what they've done!" -- Captain Picard STNG

Borg Breen Species 8472 Cardassian Dominion STNG Ferengi Klingon Romulan
Trek Movie era TOS Illuminati Starwolf Rogue Fleet

[This message has been edited by Atrocities (edited 08 November 2001).]

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

1) More hidden tecks.
2) More non weapon tecks.
3) Derlicked ships in space or morroned on planets with there own teck on the ship.
4) Random space monsters like in botf.
5) Special weapon tecks that fire large bursts of energy that are used to cause general damage to (wide areas) in front of the ship and to disrupt fighter and missile attacks.

6)INTELL ; With Europe discussing a multi-national military force, I was thinking it would be nice to be able able to pool forces among allies. In the simplest form, this would consist of just loaning ships to an ally. I don't mean just moving a fleet to help an ally, or giving ships; I mean telling a task force to accept orders from a neighboring emperor until they hear otherwise.
I think there'd be a few obvious advantages, like the ability to help an ally without risking tipping the balance between you and them; slow down an enemy's advance before he reaches YOUR borders; maybe gain intelligence information if your fleet is allowed to fly around in an allies borders. The ally has the benefit of being able to deploy the ships where they need it, and would at least get some notice before they took off and left.


[This message has been edited by HEMAN (edited 08 November 2001).]

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Atrocities:
1. Positive Random Events
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This can be found in my events file, there are like 10 positive events. just copy into you data file and keep on playing.
You can find it on the PBW site in the download section.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

1) Warp Point - Jump Delay. So you can set delays for jumps between systems, rather than instantanious travel. Or make it a movement cost as they travel through.

2) A Solar System generator button within the Map editor to generate individual systems.

3) A jump component for ships. Something like a Worm Hole Creator with a timer set on the Worm Hole that would cause it to automatically collapse after a set number of turns.

4) Area of effect weapons.

Is there someplace else where you would make an "official" request to see these additions?

Thanks!
Val

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

more and different tech found on planets with ruins. set them at random therefore they would not be in every game. This tech would not be available to anyone else in the game, such as, super missle-full range max damage immeidately, clocking device that also defeats all scanners, massive planet weapon mount extending range to the max limit for all non missle weapons, Unearthing a new additional aggressive, hostile, xenophobic race with new traits, when you discover the ruins they automatically come out of deep sleep and pop up on all planets in that system including capturing all those that have colonies (they were hidden in deep vaults under-ground) with fleets coming out of vaults within the planet's core with new unknown weapons not available to other players, a new tech tree other then orgainic, temporal, religious etc,

just some ideas mac

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Bump

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

1) It would also be cool to see random events that give you a choice.
Such as:
Alien Device Found – a) Quarantine it b) Begin testing

2) A retreat order for combat. So if you are faster or equal in speed to your opponent you can flee/out maneuver them.

3) Capital Systems/Planets.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

I like the flee option, but it needs some work. Otherwise, it is only another advantage for the human player, in that he will never choose to fight a battle he cannot win. Maybe only have it kick in after 10 turns and then give a large negative bonus to the fleet and ships.

Brings up another thing--empire morale (possibly a different value for each empire).

An option for WP decomposition and for new ones spontaneously opening.

I like the ally feature someone suggested...aka joint strike force.

This is for 5 (if it ever comes to be)...Given the new Civ 3 release, I would love to see specific resources put into the mix. But different from Civ...
-A) Make it completely moddable (ie add new, change attributes, etc).
-B) Have some that are on ALMOST every planet. And have a host of others that are harder to find.
-C) Give them the option to be finite.
-D) Maybe expand the resource extraction techs to that the player could not tell if a given planet had the higher levels of research.

Of course that would be another thing for the AI to wrestle with. In civ 3, the AI doesn't do such a great job by my mind. I just suggest this to give economics a greater impact on the game. As it stands now, it is rare that a player suffers in long game from a lack of one of the three resources. Usually we suffer from a general lack, because we do not have enough planets. And even if this hurts the AI further, so be it. It would be great for pbw games.


A few ideas.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

how about an option you could use or not where not every planet would have all three resources but only 1 or 2 of the resources instead of all three?? This wouldn't have to be for each planet but maybe 2 or 3 in each system, make this a random game setup option. This would make planets worth more and fighting over those with all three or just those you need worth fighting over, or something along this line.

just some ideas mac

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

I dunno, I think that resource specific planets already exist. Personally, I don't use a planet for resourcing of resource X if the percentage for X is less than 100%. But I am not against making planets more special in some way to make them worth far more to fight over.
As for the flee option, I think it would be quite easy for the AI to use it. It already analyzes known ship strengths and decides when to fight or not. If it gets into a battle where it has superior speed, but does not want to fight, it should flee. It would give an advantage to those folks who are using Battle Cruisers in their fleets trying to battle Dreadnoughts and Baseships. I am all for a flee option based on ship speed.
Heres what I want:
A) Fix the typo with the shield regenerator V. It still takes 30 KT space, and only puts out 25 shield points per turn, while the shield regenerator IV weighs 20 KT and puts out 20 shield points per turn. This one has been around for ages too.
B) Drones!!!
C) I don't believe its a typo, but I find it hard to reason why a mine warhead III weighs 5KT, and does 300 damage, while a cobalt warhead III also does 300 damage, yet weighs 50KT. I would like to see the cobalt warhead drasticly reduced in size so that it actually becomes a viable strategy.
D) Another thing I have a problem with is how the larger base mounts give extra range to the weapons, yet weapon platform mounts do not. I think weapon platforms should have even better bonuses than the base mounts simply because they are on a planet, and have tons of space they can occupy. It would also make defending planets much easier. As bases use a 2,4,6 range modifier distribution, I would make weapon platforms have a 3,5,7 range modifier distribution, with similar to-hit modifiers.
E) Satellites are smaller than an escort, and should even be more compact than an escort, yet an escort has a 40% defense modifier, while a satellite has none. I suggest a 50% defense modifier to sats, based on their small size.
F) I would also like to see the torpedos get a to-hit modifier to make them more useful.

OK, I guess these requests aren't as grand or as far reaching as other people's, and I know I can mod the files to do this stuff (and I do), but I think they should be standard in the game.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

What I'd like to see added...

Stuff that just can't be modded

1) Components that explode if hit. Perhaps something that gives you quite an edge, but if it gets hit, yur ded. (S.J.)

2) Area effect weapons. The ability to hit several ships simultaneously. Possibility of injuring your own ships by accident or necessity. I'd give em' a minimum range too. (Val and others)

3) Morale on the galactic and ship level. There are entire threads on this topic. Sun Tsu said it was *the* single most significant variable in war. Vimy Ridge was won by the vastly out gunned Canadians because of it. Morale needs to be added, IMHO

4) Unearthing the occassional monster and/or nasty race when exploring ruins (mac). I really like this one a lot. Maybe some monsters would be homebodies, while others would rampage the quadrant.

5) One word - Drones! (Apache and many many others)

6) I'd really like to see the capacity to beam people around... A la Star Trek. I just can't believe this is absent!

7) Star Gates? You know, as in the movie and TV show. Beaming civilians, troops and fighters (and maybe weapons platforms) from planet to planet IF there is a star gate on both. Forcible Star Gating to enemy planets IF they have a Star Gate too.

8) Okay, I know I'll get burned for this one but... I really think there should be a way of building individual intelligence agents, like in Star Wars Rebellion. *The* redeamable feature of the game was the complex nature of using agents to accomplish missions. I far prefer this to the current intelligence procedure in SEIV. I'm experimenting with troops with counter intelligence components (hope they work) but wouldn't it be great to make troops that could infiltrate other planets and pull off missions? Currently the abilities section allows for intelligence modification in the broadest of strokes (planet wide +/-, system wide +/-). How 'bout a component that decreases the likelyhood of a single ship defecting? Protecting a specific ship from crew rotation by adding a component? Creation of spies (new class of unit) that can be outfitted with different abilities to pull off different missions.

Just my thoughts on the many suggestions so far.

-jimbob

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

I like the flee option, however, some type of restrictions would have to be in place otherwise, everytime you get into a battle and find you can't win, the human or AI would always flee without taking any losses or damage. Maybe you have to stay 50% of the combat round lst (15 turns). This way you would have to at least fight/defend until you could start retreating, otherwise it would take the fun out of it especially in SP play.

Drones a definite YES...

Morale, I think in another thread someone stated the possibility a morale/experience combination, otherwise to much hard coding to get it into the game... Good Idea tho

Jimbob, ref #8 good idea, maybe put it as a trait found in ruins, that way not everyone would have it and it would be a random factor. (makes you want to find those ruins)

In standard game, un-modded, have AI use troops for invasions.....we need some ground fighting on these planets by the AI,

Stargates/transporters, I'm still thinking on this one, sounds good but what would it do to play balance in current game?

WP mounts, most definite, need to be more massive then allowed on ships, more range, etc. Make planets a little harder to take without taking some damage or losses, also would eliminate those w/seekers standing off and glazing planets or wiping defenses before invasion because of the range differences.

How about instead of simultaneous, you have a say 5% chance of when you miss l ship it strikes an adjacent or l within say 2 hexs of the target?? Those missing beams have to go somehwhere, would make you work more on formations that way you couldn't always count on your ships striking intended target. This could be tied into various levels of Multiple tracking etc the higher the level the less chance of striking non target, lower/none more chance of errant beams, could even strike your own ships if they were close to the target...

just some ideas mac

[This message has been edited by mac5732 (edited 14 November 2001).]

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Satellites are smaller than an escort, and should even be more compact than an escort, yet an escort has a 40% defense modifier, while a satellite has none. I suggest a 50% defense modifier to sats, based on their small size.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>OTOH, satellites can't maneuver; all they'd have would be station keeping thrusters. The escort can use its engines to "dodge" and otherwise make itself a less predictable target.

------------------
Cap'n Q
My first SE IV mod! Hypermaze quadrant
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Maybe a flee option could be balanced by a) requiring that fleeing ships be faster, b) that they be out of range of all enemy weapons, and c) letting it be a random die roll based on relative experience.

Hrm. Maybe variable combat-initiation distance, too -- an attacking fleet, especially a cloaked one, might try to "start" the battle from an unusually close range.

Morale/loyalty I'd definitely like to see -- in a sequel, say.

Simultaneous combat, or at least somewhat interleaved to better reflect the probable chaos (not just UGO/IGO on a per-player granularity) would be nifty.

Greater tweakability of ministers would always be nice. e.g. being able to specify what areas you might want to see mined, or a population movement priority, et al. Speaking of ministers, it'd be quite nice to have a 'skip minister-controlled ships' bit, and for the iterate-through-ship arrows to stop (or pop up a dialogue, before looping again) when all ships had been iterated through.



------------------
-- The thing that goes bump in the night

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Flee option would be nice. If that went in, it would be nice to make it so that you can't skip warp-point defences.

For example, If I have 50 satellites sitting a few combat squares from a warp point, you'd think that any enemy ship trying to pass through would have to fight / evade them in order to get through the WP. You can cheat, however by initiating combat, staying out of range and then after combat just warping through.

It should be so that using the warp command initiates combat, and the only way through the warp point is to fly up to it in tactical and "flee" through it, bringing you within range of all those static WP defences.

------------------
SE4 Code:
L GdY $ Fr- C- Sd T!+ Sf-- Tcp-- A% M&gt;M+ MpD! RV Pw Fq+ Nd- Rp+ G-
/SE4 Code
Go to my meagre SEIV pages to generate your own code.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Any attacker coming thru a defended wormhole should have to do some fighting before it can proceed. This is especially true if defender is only sats. In games i've played I've had AI ships come thru defended with only sats and never fired a shot and got into my systems, this doesn't seem right. Some type of combat should be initiated otherwise its worthless to defend with only sats. Or is this a bug??

In addition to everything mentioned in this thread. I would also like to see a choice when you have/want to destroy minefields, sats, etc, where you can choose the number similiar to when you launch them. Example, you have minefield w/100 mines, you want to destroy say only 50, (to build elsewhere), It would be nice to be able to destroy the 50 and leave the rest the same with sats, you have 30 over a planet, you want to scrap or destroy only 15 leaving the rest in place, etc.

just some ideas mac

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Quote "you have minefield w/100 mines, you want to destroy say only 50, (to build elsewhere), It would be nice to be able to destroy the 50 and leave the rest..."

Would laying mines in say Groups of 25 overcome this problem. Perhaps it would be a pain to squirt them out 25 at a time when laying mines, but then you have finer control over 'decommissioning' them later. Of course I never use mines or sats so I could be talking out my butt...

-jimbob

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mac5732:
In games i've played I've had AI ships come thru defended with only sats and never fired a shot and got into my systems, this doesn't seem right. Some type of combat should be initiated otherwise its worthless to defend with only sats. Or is this a bug??
just some ideas mac<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If the enemy ships or your sats are cloaked then no combat will take place.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>uote "you have minefield w/100 mines, you want to destroy say only 50, (to build elsewhere), It would be nice to be able to destroy the 50 and leave the rest..."
Would laying mines in say Groups of 25 overcome this problem. Perhaps it would be a pain to squirt them out 25 at a time when laying mines, but then you have finer control over 'decommissioning' them later. Of course I never use mines or sats so I could be talking out my butt...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>You could have done that in older Versions of SE4, but since v1.35 or so, all units deployed into space go into the same group. The only divisions are between sats/fighters/mines.
It is possible to have multiple independent Groups of fighters in the same sector, but that requires that they are launched at different places/times, then flown to one spot.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

What I'd like to see added...
1)A retreat order for combat.
Besides good ideas from others, How about a teck of a generater or high teck engine accellerater componet, that allows for this retreat from combat, besides these two,the ship or ship fleet must be on the outer edge of combat and stay there for 3 turns, before finally leaving combat?.
2) Overjoyed overpopulated population, When these two cryteria are affected for at least 10 turns = year , then pop will give player a duplecate of the best ship / units / troops?.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Here's another wish lister: Troop strategy. It would require some changes to the way ground combat works, wth the addition of facility/ population damage and troop capturing.

Invading / defending troops are set to defensive, neutral or aggressive. This affects their performance on the battlefield:

Defensive - troops are harder to kill, (30% defence bonus) but they do much less damage (-50% attack modifier). Troops fighting defensively have a good chance of capturing enemy weapons platforms and even enemy troops intact. They will do very little damage to population and facilities.

Neutral - Troops fighting neutrally get on additional combat modifiers. They will very rarely capture enemy troops but may well take other units intact. There may be some damage to facilities or civilian mortalities.

Aggressive - Aggressive troops get a +30% attack modifier and a -30% defence modifier. They will not take any enemy troops intact and will inflict severe damage on other units, population and facilities.

This would enable all kinds of new strategies: set your first troop drop to defensive, so that the battle will Last longer and you will have time to deploy another transport full.

Outnumber the enemy and want a quick resolution? Set your troops to aggressive for a fast and brutal battle, but be prepared for heavy losses and severe collateral damage.

A defending force might set their strategy to defensive in order to minimise losses in the face of a massive assault force, but that will prolong the battle.

I'm not sure what the bst way to set the strategy would be though: A button to click when deploying troops? A component built into each troop cockpit? Perhaps even have it set permanently for each race? (ie bezerkers are always aggressive.)

------------------
SE4 Code:
L GdY $ Fr- C- Sd T!+ Sf-- Tcp-- A% M&gt;M+ MpD! RV Pw Fq+ Nd- Rp+ G-
/SE4 Code
Go to my meagre SEIV pages to generate your own code.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

The three things I would really like to see are the following:

1 break-off or retreat option for space combat - it really gets on my nerves always having to accept combat and then spending the whole tactical phase trying to run away from the other side - even when your ships are much faster and should have been able to refuse combat sue to their speed. Obviously, you would have to accept combat in certain circumstances eg transitting a warp point into the teeth of an enemy blockading force;

2 some tactical advantage for defenders in warp point assualts, for example, the attackers being disorientated for the first few combat phases or not being able to bring all their ships through in one wave - this would really add to the power play of the game as a smaller defence force with mines and satellites could effectively hold off the larger force;

3 ground battles, I would like this on a hex map similar to the tactical map, maybe a random relief of the world you are invading - you would then have more room for strategy an tactics, siting of defence bases, troops etc and the strategy options mentioned below would be really worthwhile.

Lord knows how any of this would be effected but as it is Christmas, may be MM could some or all of these up in the next patch or SEV or whatever

------------------
sodomis non sapiens

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

I would like to see sats have capability to have engine/whatever, in order to move more where you want it on the tactical combat screen once deployed. A lot of times their so far from your planet they become ineffective and you planet gets glazed and they don't even get off a shot

just some ideas mac

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Components that modify other componenets on a ship. X increases value A by amount B when installed on this ship, etc.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

DOCUMENTATION!!! http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon8.gif A complete and correct user manual, and a explanation of every aspect and concepts of SE4. The tactical and estrategical depth and the complexity of this game makes it really necessary, IMO. Nearly all that i know about SE4 came from experiments, from Dubious Strategy guide (Thanks, dude http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif) and from this forum.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

1. Tech requirements for CompEnhancements.

So, one race might research "Longer Range" and gain that comp enhancement on all their direct fire weapons, but another race might focus on "Autofire".
(Also think of the Unique Ruins techs we could invent!)

2. Qualifiers on Events and Intel operations

Each event/intel operation to have a Type and a Severity.
For instance; Political, MiningDisaster, Slavery, Experiment, etc...

New abilities for races, ships, facilities, system etc... to prevent, aid, hinder or permit these types.

So, race A might not get any Politcal events because they don't have a politial system (maybe drones), but they use forced labour so they get slavery events (like revolts)

This would be quite a big change though, and probably require that many facilities be re-written.


3. Add way to create components with any ability type, which only function when activated. So you could make an "emergency repair" kit using the repair components ability, but it can only be used once and is then destroyed.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mark Walton:
1. Tech requirements for CompEnhancements.

2. Qualifiers on Events and Intel operations

3. Add way to create components with any ability type, which only function when activated.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

These are very good ideas. Science become useless once researched all technologies, so in very long games you must scrap all laboratoires to make room. I think this is senseless. Science is always necessary for any race, in any moment of its History. In MOO you could research "hyper-advanced" techs which were useless except for score.

I think that some kind of infinite science development is needed. For example Mark Walton's idea of component enhancement.

Examples:

- Long-range direct-fire weapons I,II,III...
- High-energy (Increased damage) I,II,III...
- High-Speed seekers I,II,III...
- Extra strong armor
- High Speed engines
- Shields
- Sensors
- Miniaturization (Same capability but less spce)
etc.

And for facilities:
- More efficient resource-extractors
- More efficient system-wide and planetary abilities
- Better space academies
- Bigger Warehouses
etc.

With gradual (And big) increments of research point cost (What amount? That's the question).

IMO this will make you research all time, running in a scietific race against your enemies. I think this is a better system, and more logic.

What do you think?

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
"emergency repair" kit
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Or emergency weapons: One really big gun that's destroyed on use. "In case of combat, break glass."

Generally, I'd like to be able to mix & match of abilities and also have them applied to weapons (ie weapon damage is an ability). Then you could have one-shot weapons, facilities which have a positive AND a negative effect, regular engines with an emergency propulsion ability (burn them out for a quick burst of speed)... the possibilities would be practically endless.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
I think that some kind of infinite science development is needed.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mod it. OK, you can't mod _infinite_ research trees but you could certainly make some bloody big ones that would outLast any reasonable game.

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SE4 Code:
L GdY $ Fr- C- Sd T!+ Sf-- Tcp-- A% M&gt;M+ MpD! RV Pw Fq+ Nd- Rp+ G-
/SE4 Code
Go to my meagre SEIV pages to generate your own code.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

I think having an unlimited tech tree would be very nice i hate scrapping all those science labs in the late part of the game. Problem is what tech to infinitely research. Some of the areas listed are a good start.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Previously mentioned ground war would be nice, but when you start factoring in orbital bombardment and other concepts, it can get rather hairy. "Nuke 'em from orbit" seems to be SOP.
--
TAZ


[This message has been edited by zircher (edited 20 November 2001).]

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

BY THE POWER OF GREY SKULL!!!. I would like?,& be very scared of
(1) Star trek machine planet eater, whind it up and watch it go, chumping only enemy planets of course, wha hahahah.
(2) A energy zapper weapon that can stop ship movement & gun fire in (very short)combat turns.
(3)Mine launchers, NARN INDUSTRIES,babylon 5, a mine projectile when launched at target blows up at a wide range area. 2,4,6,square range?. I HAVE THE POOOWWWEEERRR???. What do you guys think?.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

Area effect weapons sound good in theory, but until we get better control over fleet formations, and AI combat, they would be a real risk.

Other ideas;

More interesting Warp Points
Allow auto-generation of one-way WP, or cloaked WP. I like the idea (which seemed to be thought of but not implemented) of periodic warp points, which open, close, open, close, some randomly and some on fixed periods.

WP PERIODIC
(Warp Point opens and closes at various times)
1: Time till WP closes
2: Time till WP opens

WP PERIODIC RANDOM
(Warp Point opens and closes at random times)
1: Minimum time between changes
2: Maximum time between changes

WP CLOAKED
(One or both ends of Warp Point are cloaked and require sensors to be present to use. Origin is system generating WP; ie system whose "wp style" was used)
1: Origin cloak level
2: Destination cloak level

Different WP sizes... small WP only allows smaller ships through.


WP NARROW
(WP will cause damage to vessels above a certain size, due to narrow warp conduit)
1: Maximum safe size in kT
2: Damage per multiple of safe size




[This message has been edited by Mark Walton (edited 20 November 2001).]

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

In regards to ground combat, it would depend on how carried away you want to get. Like it is currently but with AI using invasions, or maybe something similiar to Star General, there you could have say 5 ground turns to 1 space turn, therefore you would get your bombardment from space and your ground fighting, But the bottom line is, we do need some ground fighting/invasions by the AI races(all)and not just in the mods but in the original game as well.

just some ideas mac

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>WP CLOAKED
(One or both ends of Warp Point are cloaked and require sensors to
be present to use. Origin is system generating WP; ie system whose
"wp style" was used)
1: Origin cloak level
2: Destination cloak level<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Note that what you see as a warppoint in the game is really two warppoints. The "origin" or entrance is visible, you fly to it and say "warp". At that point, the WP teleports you to wherever it feels like. Normally, every warppoint has a second warppoint from its destination leading back. You don't need, and can't use #2. Everything else is good.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

But aha, when you are generating WP automtically using the "Generate Map Now" within game, then only one "WP Stellar Abil Type" is used to generate each WP pair.

So we would need two abilities... the one I suggested for the StellarAbilityTypes file, which converts to a cloaking level for each WP (either end)


Also let me add:

WP SLOW
(Ships will emerge from Warp after a certain length of time)
1: WP minimum delay in turns
2: WP maximum delay in turns

On a semi-related note; add a "Warp Capable" ability.

WARP CAPABLE
(Vessel is capable of travelling through warp points. All vessels in group must have this ability in order to warp)
1: unused
2: unused

This may not be plausible due to the way fighters (for instance) are grouped ... but if it could work it would mean we could make sublight ships (perhaps cheaper or with smaller engines), or even in some mods insist that Warp Capable is only permitted on unstable Warp Core type devices.
As well as allowing sublight patrol/defence ships, this may allow warp capable fighters.

Just for fun, the Warp Capable could carry a value; then all warp points could carry a "slow" value, subtract the "Warp Capable" value from the slowness to determine actual speed...


[This message has been edited by Mark Walton (edited 21 November 2001).]

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>when you are generating WP automtically using the "Generate Map Now" within game, then only one "WP Stellar Abil Type" is used to generate each WP pair.
So we would need two abilities... the one I suggested for the StellarAbilityTypes file, which converts to a cloaking level for each WP (either end)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Are you sure? The two warppoints are totally separate entities, and SE4's mag generator might just happen to choose the same type (eg:"Normal Warp Point") by default.

I wonder how SE4 decides which warppoint is the "other entrance" when closing warppoints that go to nexus sectors ... It's not very obvious, especially when using the map editor to create them.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

I have been playing around a bit, I'll experiemnt some more though. I have been using other (custom) StellarAbilityTypes and though I can't swear to it, yet, it looks like one system decides to make a WP, and pokes it through into the next, using it's own choice from StellarAbilityTypes to determine wormhole properties. But, I think this may warrant further investigation, so when I get time I'll set up some test data and generate a load of maps.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

All good ideas.
But for me absolutely the top priority are the drones.
One year after the release of SE IV you see drones in so many files of the game and still they are not available. That's a little frustrating.

Re: New features I would like to see>>>>
 

A minor idea but I good one, I think. In multi-player games, when one player makes a demand/request to another, there is nothing saying what that request was unless it is in the text of the message. There is the option to send a message back saying "accept demand/request", but nothing happens unless you set up the gift or tribute yourself. I'd like to see demand/requests done the same as gifts and trades. With a button on the side that will show you the requested items and sending a message back "accept demand/request" would fullfill the request same as a trade.

Nick (bearclaw)

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"You don't know the Power of the Dark Side. I must obey my Master"