SE IV The End Of An Era.

[PvK]

The "Combat Mission-like" design suggestion would be that you have turn-based orders, between periods of real-time action resolution where there is no control. That way there is no advantage to clicking skills, and you get advantages of synchronization of movements, and can do away with artefacts like we see in SE4, where there are big stupid side-effects like ships being able to move in, fire, and move out of range, preventing return fire; or ram a faster ship because it "wasn't their turn" etc.

However there are also clever turn-based mechanics to avoid such problems (which Malfador hasn't found yet by Version SE4 Gold 1.91), and it's of course possible to still have dumb problems with a real-time system (see collisions and point defense in Star Fury, for examples).

Combat Mission is an excellent example of that stye of play. I like it, but there are weaknesses even in such a well-done rendition. One is it relies on an extremely good tactical AI, which Combat Mission has but SE and SF don't. Another is the time and thought it can take to pre-plan maneuvers, and the lack of control during action. An issue with 3D views is the usual lack of good perspectives on the whole field of action at once.

I dunno. The design issues are very numerous. Whatever Malfador does for SE5 1.0, it won't please every SE4 fan, since some of us want 3D or real-time, and others would prefer 2D or turn-based, or some combination.

PvK