quote:
Originally posted by geoschmo:
I know this is pushing the thread a bit off topic. But IMHO WP's should have mounts better than those available to ships and bases. If you think about it, what's the limitation in a weapon on the surface. There really shouldn't be.
One thing in SE that is a little too easy is glassing planets. Yes hitting the planet should be very easy, but it should take a LARGE fleet, or at least a small fleet a long time to totally obliterate the population on a planet.
I would be in favor of strengthening planetary defenses considerably. An easy way to do this is through mounts for warp points. With equal tech levels in weaponry, the Weapon plantform should have an advantage in range and damage over ships that are attacking. This would compensate for the lack of mobility, and the huge differance in chance to hit.
I know it would be easy to mod in, but I think it should be a change from MM for game balance.
I would also like to see a "Warp point only" Point defense cannon that is available earlier than the PDC we have now for ships. In a low tech start you have missles right off the bat. If you find your enemies home before he has a chance to research PDC, he's toast. A couple of frigates with CSM I's can finish him off in a couple turns.
Geoschmo
'Warp Point Mounts'??? Multi-tasking a bit too much?
But yes, I've given WPs in my game better mounts than bases. The range/damage bonuses are the same but the size increase is less so you can cram more firepower into a WP pound for pound (uh, kt for kt?) than any other vehicle. I've also got "Bulk Armor" for WPs only that stands in for massive earthworks/concrete type fortification. 8 to 1 damage ratio, better than anything but Crystalline armor. If only the AI were smart enough to use it. :-/
This is the real problem, you know. There's no way to tell the AI how many WPs or what sort of WPs to build and where to put them. Why can't you tell it that a "Military Installation" needs more WP defenses than a mere mining colony?
A "defense profile" for each colony type like there is a "construction profile" would be very nice.
Oh, I've changed my starting techs so that PDC level 1 is available at the 'medium' start level. That's usually how I start a game. Max tech is no fun, low tech is too tedious in the first few years of play.
[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 21 August 2001).]