[bearclaw]

I've had a big beef about mines since the start. First off, why are they totally undetectable right from the start?

I had an idea that I think would make mines much better and a little more fairer, but it would mean some changes to some other things too. This is the idea I sent to MM directly Last spring.

Mines should have their own sets of componants. Basic mine with just warheads would be deadly but also visible. This makes for a deterant feature. Like putting up a "do not enter" sign.

The Mines tech should cover several areas. Getting construction lv 1 opens up things like, Mine Hulls tech, Mine sensors, mine cloak, mine sweepers etc. I see minesweepers should do a certain amount of damage when mine sweeping instead of simply removing 1-5 mines each. That way, someone could make a set of mines that are heavy in Mine Armour but are totally visable. it could take a long time for sweepers to get rid of them, but they are still doing what they were ment to.

Another feature is mine sensors. A mine without sensors would miss a cloaked ship of a ceratin level. This would remove the overly strong capabilites (IMHO) of mines being able to take out anything that crosses it's path.

This,however brings up sensors and cloaks. Different sensor types should have their own advantages. There should be cloaking devises for each type of sensor (Active, Passive, Gravtic etc.) Then there would be a point to researching different fields. Your sensors may work on one empires cloak but not anothers.

Some of the ideas for Mine componants are: warheads, mine sensors (each type and level), Mine cloak (diffenrent types and levels), and Mine armour.

I do agree that highly advanced mines should be invisable, but not at the beginning.

Just my suggestions

Nick (bearclaw)