[geoschmo]

[quote]Originally posted by Silent Sorrow:

Why do you need to get into any of this? Why not just abstract it as in MOO2? If you choose to retreat you select "options/retreat"<snip>Though I'm no programmer I don't see how what I described would be difficult to program since it would not actually involve any additional programming beyond adding an option to the options menu.

I am not an auto mechanic, but I know it takes more than taping a button to the dash board to add cruise control to my car.

What you are missing Slient Sorrow is that the combat engine in SEIV was designed around strategic combat. IIRC the designer originally intend not to even have tactical combat. It was added in after considerable amount of requests from members of the beta team.

All of the factors Puke mentions are nessecary to determine for retreat to be an option in strategic combat, because you cannot simply give the ship a retreat order as you suggest. You must give them a strategy and a method of detemining what conditions to retreat under, and what conditions to persue a retreating ship under. For that matter, even under tactical combat you have to figure out these things to give the AI the ability to make these decisions.

I suppose that retreat could simply be added for tactical combat only, but it's simply not been a priority of the designer. Whether that is because of the complexity in programming all these factors, or just a lack of compelling need for it I don't know.

Geoschmo

[ June 25, 2002, 17:48: Message edited by: geoschmo ]