Space Empires 5

[Pax]

Originally posted by Arkcon:
Okay, under the heading of Space Empires 5 -- that is, new code changes that alter the game from SE4 --> SE5 the same way game play was altered from SE3 --> SE4.

In SE4 we have asteroids which are convertible to planets of random type and atmosphere. How about in SE5 we have rocky asteroid fields, icy cometary debris(is that what's meant by ort clouds?) and storms made mostly of ionized gasses.

We would have individual components for condensing each into planets -- asteroids to rock, comets to ice, storms to gas giants. So you know what you're going to get, and what not to bother with.

I like that idea, actually. And frankly, any planet you -make-, should have your own atmosphere ... after all, if you breathe Hydrogen, why would you BOTHER making an Oxygen-atmosphere world ... ?

And I'd like to see an expanded range of atmosphere types. 8)

Under the heading of Oh No, how about a switch to allow different planet types to have significantly different relative amounts of resources: rock planets are mineral rich, ice planets have lots of extractable organic building blocks frozen in them, gas giants are very rich in radioactives, but each type would be lacking in the others.

The result would be that people would have to remote mine, and defend their remote miners or trade with each other heavily. If by chance a gas giant race found one of the rare gas giants that was 80 % minerals -- they would have to hold that planet at all costs if they wanted to build ships at all. This would be cruel to the newbies, but some experts would like the challenge of overcoming the handicap.

A good way to do this is, not to make (say) all Gas Giants poor in minerals, period. Make them poorer in minerals than in radioactives. The maximums are now, what, 250%/250%/250% ... ? Change it to be 150%/150%/300% for gas giants, 150%/300%/150% for Ice worlds, and 300%/150%/150% for Rock worlds. That -would- be entertaining, IMO.

Oh, and lets lose this asteroids with 200%+ resources. Maybe it's needed for remote mining to be usefull, but when it becomes a planet, re-roll the stats or decrement them by some amount. I don't see why we need this at all -- no one seems to have jumped on re-writing the AI to take advantage of this. Maybe remote mining should produce more or decrease the value less rapidly instead.

Actually, 200% resources for asteroids isn't bad. If we go with Rock planets having a maximum of 300%/150%/150%, then rocky asteroids should have the same; after all, how can you build a 200%-mineral planet, out of 2%-mineral asteroids ... ? Besides, with the possibility of again being able to colonise asteroids ... it might be possible also, for Asteroids to be your HOME PLANET TYPE.

[Spuzzum]

Originally posted by Arkcon:
Yikes Sorry 'bout that guys -- shoulda checked the dictionary before typing. Is military ammunition pronounced ORD-NANCE or is it still pronounced ORD-IN-ANCE despite the spelling?

It's pronounced ord-nance as it's spelled. An unwieldy word, really -- following a consonant like "rd" with another consonant is bound to cause trouble. =)

[Phoenix-D]

Here's a few:

Sensors- change these to have a range. Ideally the scanning power would drop off at range- say at 0 squares you could see through level 3 cloak, 1 square level 2, etc.

Also, I'd love to see a difference between Stealth and Cloak. Cloak could work like we have now; Stealth should be always-on and not interfere with the ship's actions or need supply (stealth would, of course, be easier to spot)

Phoenix-D

[Baron Munchausen]

Atmosphere type: Logically, atmosphere depends on the composition of the planet. The gases have to come from somewhere, and they usually come from inside the planet, although lif eon the surface can alter them as has happened with earth. We'd be a methane or carbon dioxide world without life freeing oxygen.

So, also logically, a planet ought to drift back towards its original atmosphere type when the terraforming input is removed.

Planet value: It makes sense for minerals and radioactives to be less accessible when asteroids are condensed into a solid planet than when free floating in space. It also makes sense for the mineral and radiactive value of planets to go UP when they are smashed into asteroids and the material is more accessible. Where is the value coming from when 'value improvement plants' are used after all?

It'd be cool if an AI could be taught to use remote mining, and then stellar manipulations to destroy planets it can't use so it can remote mine them. You could have some interesting conflicts with a 'ruthless' race that wants to smash planets it cannot use for mineral extraction while you want to live on them.

Scanning and range: Yes, if the system map is expanded to at least a radius of 10, or we go to a coordinate system, then scanning ought to have a real range and this 'full knowledge' of a system just because you have one ship or unit there could end.

[ July 13, 2002, 23:12: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

[Will]

Originally posted by [K126]Mephisto:
I still don't see why you all want to split the "conditions" field into different variables like gravity and radiation only to manipulate all the variables again with one facility. I do however think it would be nice to have the "conditions" field related to a race, not to all races.

Well, conditions could be made so that each planet had a different condition for each race... but it just seems easier to me if there are a finite number of condition variables that can be compared to the different races, rather than arbitrarily assigning different conditions for each of the different races. In larger games, this could mean keeping only 5-10 variables per planet instead of 20 (if the 20-race limit stays). It also means it'd be a lot easier to introduce a new race in mid-game, if that would be supported.

Manipulating all the variables with one facility would be a very high-tech thing. Right now, humans would be analogous to a very low tech race is SEIV. The terraforming that we're capable of right now would be able to change atmosphere composition very slowly, and temperature. A race later on could change radiation levels perhaps, and atmosphere/temperature more quickly. So, closer to endgame, there could be an all-in-one facility, but for the rest of it they would probably be split into multiple facilities (probably, because someone could always mod it ).

[Captain Kwok]

In regards to planets I would like to see some of the following details added or expanded:

• Increased # of atmosphere types
• Gravity
• Conditions (Radiation/Climate etc)
• Value depending on planet type/distance from star
  

The fewer planet variables matching a race's variables would result in the planet producing a very poor colony or none at all.
In regards to ammo, I rather not have to worry about that. However, I think adding food for the population or a power source for planetary facilities might be nice.

[Arkcon]

A {bump} for David Gervais and others interested in Space Empires 5

[EDIT]
I didn't even notice I went from Second Louie to First. Well, that'll happen with all these fluff Posts of mine

[ January 24, 2003, 21:40: Message edited by: Arkcon ]