Questions Re: My Mod

[Starhawk]

Hey all I'm here to ask yet more questions about my mod, please bare with me

Question 1: Is there anyway to make a boarding component mountable on a fighter because races like the Terrenesi and Corim use breaching pods on their warships?

Question 2: Is there anyway to make a "transport" that is small enough to fit into a capital ship? I.E. I want Landing craft with some of the races, like something only a little larger then a fighter to be carried aboard an "attack carrier" style vessel.
Because I always thought it would be interesting for a world to have to try and shoot down dozens of tiny dropships instead of one massive troop carrier.

Question 3: Would you guys be against a much simpler tech tree for each race? Getting your maximum tech levels in a few years instead of a few decades?

Question 4: What are your feelings towards each race having their own planet killing styles? (some races will have biological weapons others will have the planet crackers)?

Question 5: Only one or two races will have the ability to create planets everyone else will have to learn that when you blow up a planet it's for good, is this a good idea?

Question 6: Is it possible to make a weapon change atmosphere types on a world? (basicaly erase all current life and make it a new world)

Question 7: No ONE will have the ability to create stars, though some races will have nova weapons, is this good or bad in your opinion?

Question 8: I want to keep sphereworlds for some races and ringworlds for others but not necessarily both for every race, good or bad?

Question 9: How many races do you see as necessary before a beta release?

[EDIT] Question 10: I was planning on Infantry dominating the trooper units in game with only 1 "traditional" troop type unit per race. Good or bad?

[Suicide Junkie]

1)Units can't use boarding parties.
The current ship-to-ship boarding parties would be fine though. Docking with an enemy ship in combat is pretty improbable, but getting to range 1 for short range pods makes sense with the same ingame mechanics.

2) Ships can't be cargo. Units can't carry cargo.
Instead, try reducing ground combat to 1 round, and adjust the balance towards hitpoints instead of damage on troops.
That way, many transports get to participate in the same ground combat, and a strategy of many small drops becomes practical.

3) If your tech tree runs out, then research dies totally, and you lose that part of the game.
If you want to having your techs max out after a few years, I reccommend leaving a lot of extra levels with diminishing returns.
At some point, races may decide its not worth keeping the research centers around for 1 point more damage on their guns every few turns, and start swapping the research for resource miners and capture ships.

4) No opinion.

5) Better make the planet creation really hard and slow going, though, with plenty of disadvantages in other areas...
Being able to fill out your systems would be a serious advantage.

6) There is no damage type for randomizing an atmosphere. You could use a planet buster/creator combo to randomize the planet type and atmosphere until you get one you like, though.

7) If you're going with the galactic decay theme, it fits.
Eventually the universe will die a heat death and the victor will be left with rubble to rule

8) I don't think that really fits the theme of destruction. It also makes for invulnerable "planets" unless you make ringbuster components.

9) AIs? None. Racial Tech Trees? From the sounds of it, two or three minimum, I'd guess.

10) Depends on the variety of infantry. If its just going to be one basic infantry, then the guy with more wins. ()
Infantry plus elite forces, and some tanks plus the specials would provide the nessesary variety, though.

Take a look at the troops in GritEcon (and feel free to use some of it).
Infantry dominates there mostly because they are inexpensive cannon fodder. Without the pricey tanks to back them up, your campaigns will be long and gruelling, though.
A typical medium-large ground combat there will see tens of dropships delivering 50-100 tanks and a few thousand infantry. Because of the hitpoint balance, the infantry take most of the hits like armor for your tanks. Because a successful ground campaign takes quite a while to grind across the surface, both sides get a chance to drop and/or build reinforcements, too.

[Kana]

Suicide Junkie said:
1)Units can't use boarding parties.
The current ship-to-ship boarding parties would be fine though. Docking with an enemy ship in combat is pretty improbable, but getting to range 1 for short range pods makes sense with the same ingame mechanics.

And this is a real shame too...I do believe that SEV will allow us to create units just like ships...?!?

Suicide Junkie said:
2) Ships can't be cargo. Units can't carry cargo.
Instead, try reducing ground combat to 1 round, and adjust the balance towards hitpoints instead of damage on troops.
That way, many transports get to participate in the same ground combat, and a strategy of many small drops becomes practical.

Are you sure ships can't be cargo...what about that highliner mod, that had big huge carrier ships, that carried combat ships around, that couldn't warp....???

[douglas]

Those combat "ships" are actually fighters.

[Kana]

douglas said:
Those combat "ships" are actually fighters.

So that would take us back to the units not being able to use boarding parties...? Can they drop or carry troops? Can units carry cargo? I guess a unit can't carry a unit?!?

Kana

[PvK]

Most of the "good or bad" questions are simply matters of personal preference. That being the case, I think things that are different from the unmodded game are interesting, and thus usually "good" since they would offer a change.

1. No
2. No.
3. In general yes. As SJ said, max levels remove research from the game. However, not necessarily. If the game is meant to represent action on a scale where no major developments would emerge through research to affect the conflict, then that's ok. Also, it is one (though not the only) way to remove the issue with the unmodded game where more colonies means more ability to research, which always seemed at least slightly wrong to me.
4. Sounds good/interesting.
5. Sounds good/interesting, though as SJ said, it should be considered a major effect for balance.
6. Not really. You could of course have a ship that could destroy the planet and rebuild it, which would give you a random atmosphere change.
7. Sounds good/interesting.
8. Sounds good/interesting.
9. One.
10. Good.

PvK

[PvK]

> So that would take us back to the units not being able to use boarding parties...?

Yes.

> Can they drop or carry troops?

No.

> Can units carry cargo?

No.

> I guess a unit can't carry a unit?!?

Right.


PvK

[Suicide Junkie]

In SE5, you'll be able to pick and choose your attributes for your custom vehicle types.

Nesting cargo can be risky though... Imagine if you had a dropship that could carry two more dropships as cargo!

[Nodachi]

Nesting cargo can be risky though... Imagine if you had a dropship that could carry two more dropships as cargo!

Interdimensional cargo space!

[Starhawk]

Hmm I could have been sure that in a mod I saw a fighter carrying a boarding component....the Star Trek one with the Borg as a matter of fact I thought had a boarding style unit, the drone.


In regards to infantry being the primary force you'll be using in the mod, the variations of infantry equipment will vary from race to race for example the Terrenesi will have enough components to make 3 classes of infantry:
:Stormer:
:Commando:
:Eagle Guard Commando:

The primary armerment of Terrenesi foot soldiers is the Pulse rifle which is similar to the much larger Pulse Cannons on ships. However commando weaponry (more expensive) and armor (Also more expensive) provide better offensive and deffensive power at the cost of resources and of course time in training.
Of course there are also pulse grenades, plasma grenades and the like which will all (when finished) have pluses and minuses to add to your troops.
Their "tanks" (more traditional units) are going to be very expensive compared to the infantry but also have a LOT more armor and firepower, basically you'll probobly have a 50 tanks for every thousand Stormers ratio and probobly about 50, 300 for Commandos (since the commandoes are going to have expensive armor and weapons comps).

This of course is assuming I can make components require other components to function (I.E. Commando Pulse Rifle requires Commando battle armor).

While Races like the United Shipping Corporation use massive cloning vats to create their expendable fighting forces, they'll have 1 type of infantry with a Laser Rifle as their weapon.
Their tanks will also likely be cheaper and more mass producable but weaker then those of some of the other races.

The Icarans rely on a mix of heavy infantry and fast attack vehichles, to represent this they will have some heavier armor for their infantry then other races but their tanks are "fast" units (i.e light units) with lighter armor and weapons then other races main battle tanks, with a (large troop unit) representing some of their heavy tanks on the field.


[EDIT]Oh and what I meant by the "max" research being much lower I mean that instead of all this big HUUUUGE tech tree most of which you never use in game each race will have a MUCH smaller tech tree with increased research costs and times on each.

Basically a race that focuses on say Quantum pulse weapons probobly would not waste thier time researching, Fusion beam weapons.

I am doing these smaller more specialized tech trees to represent that not every race in the galaxy is likely to use the same tech and tactics I mean this isn't star trek