What about spacefaring races?

[Arc.Smiloid]

I'm just full of strange ideas ain't I?

Something I was rather impressed with was the sheer flexibility of the game.. So it got me thinking: Add research components and some whacked way to combat ship maintenance with a racial trait..

Then you could actually command a completely spacefaring race, no planets whatsoever. They would start out with a Mothership (A skeleton Base Ship with construction, cargo, minimal armament, slightly mobile, quantum reactor?) The race would need to raid planets and asteroids for resources to expand and maintain its armada. I.E. resource extractors.

Shivans from Freespace, Aliens from ID4, etc. There are many examples of races who don't actually colonize planets, their entire races live in space ships. The play style may be more difficult than the norm, but it would be great fun!!

What do you think?

[Baron Munchausen]

I think you're doing an excellent job of bringing up all the ideas we've had in this and all the other SE4 forums in the past. There's a standing request for a "habitat" component -- something that a population can live and GROW in, unlike cargo bays where they just sit. This is the first requirement for a space-faring race. Then, yes, you need both research and intelligence points to be generated by components instead of facilities and you need some way of storing resources in space (resource storage components?)... then you've got the possibility of a space-native race. If you can get decent game balance.

[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 13 December 2000).]

[Shadow99]

I was thinking about how it could be fun to have 'raider/pirate' races that would be antagonists (as opposed to nuetral races which are their just to be conquered/make peace with)...

So I like the idea... Maybe a mothership component that allows updating?

[rdouglass]

I think the idea is good also except that I don't believe SE4 is designed to allow anything but facilities (planet based) to generate research or intel points - no components (ship based). However, you would think that if they can develop components that do resource extraction (robominers), they should be able to develop components that do research and / or intel. That and the habitat mentioned previously could do it...

Check out some other threads - this has been discussed before at length.