Some new ability i just thought of....

[Lemmy]

In SMAC there were weapons that were considered "atrocities" if they were used, for example nerve gas and planet busters (nukes).

Now what i was thinking of is a component (and facility) ability named "Atroctiy" with the first value indicating how much your relations drop if you use that component.

For example the plague bomb can be considered an atrocity, give it value 10, and for every plague bomb you drop, you're relations drop by 10 with all of the other races you know.
In fact, all pop killing weapons can be considered atrocities, making it harder to just glass all of the planets, unless you're out for war with everyone.

This way a balance could also be found between weapons that should be way more powerful then they are now(CSM is NUKE dammit!), and weapons that are more powerfull then they should be.
CSM could really be devastating, but their atrocity rating may not make it worth it to use them.

[ November 16, 2002, 11:34: Message edited by: Lemmy ]

[Taera]

i had this idea, but i see no use for this in the game.

[TerranC]

I see a use; commit one atrocity and I have good reason to gather a war against you.

[CW]

Who ISN'T a madman when you dedicate yourself to conquering the universe and subjugating everybody?

This abilities maybe useful when playing the AIs, but against human? Emm... who will care?

[Phoenix-D]

"This way a balance could also be found between weapons that should be way more powerful then they are now(CSM is NUKE dammit!), and weapons that are more powerfull then they should be.
CSM could really be devastating, but their atrocity rating may not make it worth it to use them."

When you can throw around antimatter warheads, nukes kind of pale in comparison. Especially in space, where you don't get the benifit of a shock wave.

Phoenix-D

[capnq]

The chief problem (besides it requiring a hardcode change to implement) is that each race should have its own definition of what constitutes an atrocity.

In the Alien Crossfire expansion for SMAC, you can get away with the "minor" atrocities, as long as you don't use them against your own species.