[Fionn]

I remember having both Rules of Engagement and Breach II - the pair that "fit together" to handle ship-to-ship and boarding actions with the two seperate programs. It was awesome in the extreme! I think the only reason I stopped playing was because my Amiga died and I finally went PC so I could bring work home. Couldn't find copies of the games for that platform by that point . . . :-(

If it were left in my little monkey paws, I'd come up with a data packet protocol that'd allow stats such as boarding party info, ship layout and so forth to be handed about between applications. That way, 3rd party developers could come up with various add-ons (the boarding module, the ground combat module, the super-fancy 3D space combat with retreat option module . . . ) that could be added or subtracted from the line-up as desired.

SEIV Plug-Ins, IOW. :-)

A note on the interchangable launch facilities - I agree (for whatever that's worth) that it is probably just a bug. I picture the facility as specialized launch and recovery faciities that can handle just their specific type of "cargo". I think an interesting addition, however, would be a generic Hanger component. At the cost of increased size and cost, to handle the larger multi-purpose facilities and tenders, it could launch anything from mines to fighters.

Oh, and I'm also a proponent of being able to change star (system) names. I'm tired of setting up shop in the Devonshire star system. I thought Devonshire was in England, not out beyond the Crab Nebula.