[geoschmo]

Originally posted by dmm:
I originally thought of the TF as an ancient race or as a multi-national trade conglomerate. So I had the game starting with the TF already spread out over the galaxy, one planet per system, with lots of storage III facilities. And I made them "non-attackable" to prevent people from getting pops of TFs, planets full of resources, planets with resource converters, etc. Especially if you start the TF out in one spot, you have to have something to prevent someone from taking them over right at the beginning. Perhaps with the upcoming patch you could give them race-specific weapons platforms, really cheap, with super bonuses.

Well, first of all, to answere your earlier question, capturing a planet with resource storage facilities does not give you the resources stored there so that's not really a problem. It only increases your empires storage capacity, and decreases the empires that lost the planet.

If the TF starts out as a low tech empire like the others, there is really no advantage to a player in jumping them quickly, and you would earn the wrath of the other players as a result. Lots of downside for little or no gain. Better to nurture the TF and attempt to benefit from it and position your self as it's "protector". But also be in a position to possibly control access to it, if done with care and subtlty.

But if someone does get uppity and decide to pop them, the game would just proceed normally without the TF. That is why the TF's objective is to spread as far and wide as quickly as possible. To ensure that no attack is a death blow and allow it to remain in the game and have an influence of some kind.

But if you want to give them race specific uber-platforms, that can be done now. No need to wait for the patch.

Geoschmo

[ June 11, 2002, 18:33: Message edited by: geoschmo ]