Retreat Option

[Suicide Junkie]

What you need is to remove the engine limitations, and use "engines per move" instead. That way, you could make an LC with 8 movement, 1 shield & a few "ExtendedRange Tractor Beams"

The LC zooms out, and start dragging the enemies back to the fleet to be killed.

IMO, a tractor beam should still work on ships larger than you, with a reduction in damage (pull) of roughly one point per hull size.

I always mod "ER Tractor Beams" with range upto 8, and damage of 1, reload 1 or 2. Use a lot, since you're gonna be inaccurate.
Still, for ships with equal movement, you can slowly drag 'em in, and every hit counts.

[Marty Ward]

I like the unlimited tactical map size the best. That way if you are faster you can get away if not tough luck.
If the map is able to be made an unlimited size then I think you should either start closer together or lengthen the combat phase to allow the faster ships to actually catch up to the slower ships.

[Trachmyr]

quote:

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Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
What you need is to remove the engine limitations, and use "engines per move" instead. That way, you could make an LC with 8 movement, 1 shield & a few "ExtendedRange Tractor Beams"

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Actually I do use "Engines per Move", but it has one SERIOUS drawback... When the AI reads the lines "Mininum Speed & Desired Speed" in the AI_Design_Creation.txt file, it isn't actually looking at SPEED, but engines. Thus you must create seperate profiles for EACH hull size, which is needed for EACH race.... that's a lot of tinkering with the AI files, I'm still sorting out problems with it (In my mod you need one Engine per Move for every 33.33 tons of ship weigt (although I rounded down for Escorts)... but gave Engine Double movement, thus regardless of the Tonnage of ship... you must devote the same % of space to Engines to get the same movement.

I wrote MM to try to get them to alter the "Speed" lines in AI_Design_creation.txt to actually mean speed NOT engines (and that if changed, the "bonous movement" should not be figured into the calculation, it should just modify the desired speed.



[This message has been edited by Trachmyr (edited 01 April 2001).]

[mottlee]

SE3 had this in it wouldn't be EZ to put one in?

[dogscoff]

I think an unlimited / much larger tactical map would be best. I hate the idea that a ship can get stuck in a corner. How many corners do you know of in deep space? The wrap around idea could work, and you could justify it as an expression of 3D rather than 2D space.

The thing I'd like to see in tactical combat is a "conclude combat peacefully" option. Sometimes I go in to soften up the opponent without destroying them. (Maybe I want to board / invade later on) I might take out the "disposable" enemy ships in the first few turns but then I have to press "End turn" 20 odd times because if you ask the computer to end combat it will obliterate everything it can.

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There is an exception to every rule. Including this one.

[Q]

I don't miss the retreat option.
In SE III it even annoyed me sometimes: To chase a colony ship for several turns until it had no more movement points left was not the most thrilling things to do. And in the end the final outcome was almost always the same as without retreat option.

[mottlee]

Yup I hate it when the AI runs to a corner and then sets there, Even if the ship will out run Plasma missiles they run and DIE