Infinite combat map

[Q]

The longer I play SE V the more I get annoyed by the infinite combat map. The map can get so big you even don't find your ships in the sector view because the visible sector is so tiny compared to the entire map.
Please fix this one way or the other.
One solution would be that ships that run away and cross a certain distance get to next hex of the sytem map.

[Captain Kwok]

You need to read the changelog for v1.12!

[Shadowstar]

My combats always automatically end after a chase goes on after about 10 seconds, if neither side gets any closer to the other.

One thing you can try to reposition your ships (without cheating using the sector view), is to move out of the combat sector and come back in the direction you want to appear from. This is also a good way to regroup your ships.

[Captain Kwok]

Note from v1.12:
12. Fixed - You can't move ships in the Sector View if enemy ships are present.
14. Fixed - Space combat now allows you to retreat if you move your ship past the circle border (and it has strategic movement points left). Retreat costs 1 strategic movement point.
15. Fixed - Space combat no longer ends when the distance between enemies remains the same or increases.
16. Fixed - The combat border is now displayed on the overview map.

[raynor]

I've heard folks mention before using the sector view to re-position your ships. But I haven't a clue what it means. Will someone please tell me?

I got bitten by the infinite combat map in my game today. I did three combats in a row but never caught the ship. Meanwhile, a homeworld I captured that had 4000 M population was effectively blockaed. It was quite annoying. I'm definitely looking forward to the new patch!

[Raapys]

Check out all the tiny icons in the System View. One of them says 'Switch to sector view' or something. Basically, it's combat view without having a combat, and you can freely move units/ships around, positioning them for battle, setting up satellites, etc.

As it stands, you can actually use this to place your ships right beside enemy ships, if combat ended with both sides still in the sector. This wont be possible with the soon-to-come patch, though. Exploit, obviously, but necessary with the unlimited combat area, which will also be fixed in the patch.

[Shadowstar]

I do like the idea of infinite combat area, but the system just needed some tweaks to prevent gameplay problems.

The retreat option sounds good but I wonder if the AI will use it? It sounds to me like it is optional, not a forced retreat. If it's not optional then it effectively negates infinite combat area. Problem is, if it is optional then it still leaves the system open for exploit.

After all, what's to stop a player from flying past the border and just choosing not to retreat? Without the automatic end of battle, it'd all come down to which player chooses to retreat first.

This wouldn't be an issue if pursuing ships would not follow retreaters too far past the combat border. At some point, they turn back and return to the fleet/planet/etc. Then, if the fleeing player chooses to retreat, it moves him out of the sector normally, but if he chooses not to, it leaves his ships where they were and ends the combat. Either way, the defending ships return to thier original positions. He could then choose to attack again, but would not be able to exploit the tactic in order to pull defenders away from a target.

[Raapys]

I suggested to Aaron that all ships be returned to the positions they had before combat once it ends, if the enemy retreated/was destroyed. This would also make defending warp points and such with ships a whole lot easier. Gets tiresome relocating them after each attack.

[Suicide Junkie]

With an infinite combat map and no exploits being abused, then any ship with fully functional engines deciding to run away results in you being simply screwed.

The map expands to absurd sizes, and you get things such as 100 megs of combat replay with no shots being fired.

Raapys:
That sounds pretty good. Multiselect on the sector view would also remove the hassle. (Grab the whole fleet, move them as one back to the warppoint, then fiddle the individual positions without need of scrolling)

[Raapys]

I think ships crossing a certain border should be transferred to the next hex automatically, not by choice. But that brings up the problem with ships retreating and being moved in the system view map without actually having any movement points left.