[Jmenschenfresser]

We have an alpha Version, I would call it. It's just a test of several ideas we came up with one afternoon.

I think the biggest slow down tweak is to increase the cost of facilities so that it takes two turns to build every facility if you maintain an equal level of space yard tech...otherwise it is three turns.

Also we wanted to take out all of the self-generating supplies, like solar panels and quantum reactor. This reduces the independence of ships.

The idea is not to slow expansion, but to slow growth--certainly research, possibly economic as well.

Slowing research to expand the game is important, perhaps as Geo says, high cost will be enough. The biggest problem I see with a game like history other than the research, and it is something I would like to see changed for part two, is war. I think we can all pretty much agree that SE4 has two phases, the build up and the battle (singular tense). It seemed in History that minor conflicts were difficult to enter into, because in the back of your mind you knew, your opponent could easily knock out three other planets on the same turn. I didn't find the amass and attack formula to work well under writing conditions. Almost all of sci-fi fiction write space war as something protracted and grueling like that of land war.

I'd basically like to see the scale of war brought down some. Slow it down. Perhaps specialize the destruction of planets. As it takes troops to capture a world, increase pop damage and planetary napalm kt so that it takes PN to glass a world. I really dislike the fact that you can build this perfect fleet to destroy your neighbor's fleet, but along the way this fleet is perfectly capable of planet hopping. Think about it, if a phased polaron beam can kill something like 15 million citizens in one shot...a city larger than London, then shouldn't that same beam rip any ship to shreads in one shot.

That's probably a hark upon realism, but when you write about what happens in SE4, some realism will help.

The rock, paper, scissor just is a bit lacking. (troop ships to take planets, big fleets to kill other fleets, and napalm to kill planets.)

Think about it, if we take out the supply generators and make glassing napalm specific, what it then takes to stage a prolonged campaign against one's neighbor would be huge combo fleets of anti-ship/ships, napalm ships, supply ships and mine sweepers. Not to mention carriers, drones carriers, PD ships, or other single use ships people generally use. It would make spontaneous campaigns like the one which I used to end the first History game harder to accomplish even against a weaker empire. Might actually have some real wars that move back and forth a bit. For the most part, I never got to write more than one post about a 'war' because they were over as soon as the first battle happened.

Another idea I am itching to try is a low amount of space combat turns. Would take a few rounds for large fleets to kill each other. That way it is sort of an attack and retreat. Attack and retreat.

Just a few ideas. Few of which are tested. May not be used.

Perhaps this is the Norak Postscript.