[DirectorTsaarx]

Originally posted by Baron Munchausen:

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Originally posted by DirectorTsaarx:

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Originally posted by dogscoff:

-Limited supply generation and storage for facilities (instead of just the "quantum reactor" resupply depot we have now)

I'd suggest extended that idea so we "buy" supplies with resources; I know the game tries to model this with maintenance costs, but if we're going to limit the supplies available at a resupply depot, there needs to be a way to buy extra supplies. And maybe the supply generation should be tied to production - the more mins/orgs/rads you produce, the more supplies are available...

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It certainly sounds reasonable for a Resupply Depot to COST a certain amount of resources to operate each turn. But you could just as easily reason that the maintenance costs of ships is precisely the resources cost of the supplies they use (along with replacement parts, etc.). So, it's kind of a "six of one, half a dozen of the other" situation...

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Yeah, my idea only has merit if we accept the idea that a resupply depot only creates X number of supplies per turn. There'd have to be a minimum number of supplies it can generate, but we should be able to "buy" more (just like resource conVersion). As Baron points out (and I pointed out in the original post), we're already paying a "maintenance cost" for each ship that theoretically covers the cost of supplies, but then again it takes a lot more to maintain a battleship that's actively engaged in a campaign than it does to maintain that same battleship on routine patrol. So, I'd contend that the built-in maintenance cost is for supplying a ship on routine patrol; during long campaigns, more supplies would be required. As the game stands now, those extra supplies just "appear" magically at resupply depots, but if a resupply depot has to store supplies and/or generate those supplies at some specified rate, there should be a way to force the generation of those supplies. I suggested tying supply generation to production because empires with large production surpluses ought to have the ability to produce more supplies than empires that are barely able to pay maintenance costs on the existing ships. And also as a way to reduce the micromanagement of converting resources to supplies.

I'd probably also recommend levels of "resupply" facilities, tied to the existing resupply research chain, so at resupply level 5 you'd get both a quantum reactor component and a quantum reactor facility. BTW - if we end up with a resupply depot that only produces a set number of supplies per turn, then bases would need to be changed as well...

I also think MM should have implemented the proposed feature (way back during the initial design phase of SE4) of being able to "buy" research - i.e., convert extra resources into research points (or even intelligence points) in an emergency. Unfortunately, the AI would never be able to use that properly...