Combat in SEV

Lucifer Domine · #1 February 24th, 2006, 02:28 PM

No, I was referring to playing other humans, SJ. Among the friends with which I play, I have the best grasp of tactics. I tend to win most of the time. The fun for them usually consists of trying to find ways to spread my resources thin by teaming up against me.

As for PBEM tactical combat, it has been a while since I've used PBEM, mainly I use hotseat. Apparently it was another game that had turn-based tactical combat that worked in PBEM games... MoO2, maybe? I know that also had PBW support. Maybe I am getting that confused and remembering networking with my brother and a few friends to play then saving the game and basically doing a few turns a night over the course of several months....

Like I said, I will give the demo a shot and see what it's like when I have access to it. I might just be over-reacting and might actually LIKE the way SEV does it, but I just am miffed at losing truly turn-based tactical combat. There are times I prefer turn-based to simultaneous for a change of pace. Feels more like a computerized board game then.

Since you mentioned strategies/designs, I am curious... is there a way to make the AI use smaller ship models instead of just sending waves of massive fleets composed entirely of its largest ship around? I like to use a mix of vessel and never truly abandon any ship size (escorts make perfect boarding shuttles). I also tend to keep a defensive fleet in every system I control (patrolling in case of cloaked ships lurking about) and all my critical planets well defended by units (obsolete models get shipped off to front lines for combat disposal and to "unimportant" colonies for SOME protection).

Captain Kwok · #2 February 24th, 2006, 02:48 PM

Like Douglas mentioned, there is a stepped-pause feature. This means you can halt the combat every X seconds (i.e. 1, 2, 4, 5 etc) automatically. This can be used to create essentially the same situation as traditional SE:IV tactical combat with the exception (and improvement to fairness IMO) that the ships will execute their orders and movement at the same time.

Alternatively, you may even choose to control a single ship in the combat (pretending you're its captain) while the combat runs.

Atrocities · #3 February 24th, 2006, 03:04 PM

Go Captain Kwok, GO! Blow them out of the stars! Your our HERO! OH NO LOOK OUT! Ohhhhhhh they got him.

Yimboli · #4 March 27th, 2006, 03:30 PM

reminds me of dungeon keeper! =O

BBegemott · #5 March 28th, 2006, 05:58 AM

Hei
Speaking about the combat... is it really 3D? I do recall watching an intro-film with upcoming SE5 features, and combat as one of them. What dissapointed me- I saw the ships moving in circles so they could use their weapons that are built in on both sides of the ship. Hey, I saw that before - in Pirates Of the Carribbean (sp sry). SE5 ships move the same like ships in POFC! Ouch. Why don't spaceships use 3rd dimmenssion? I think rotating along its own axis is much more cost efficient rather than making a big circle.
For this reason a new type of engines could be introduced- that provide rotating speed.
If 3rd dimmension in SE5 will be like it is in Starfury- sry, that's not 3D.

Fyron · #6 March 28th, 2006, 02:16 PM

Malfador has never claimed SE5 to have a 3D grid, just 3D rendering.

Hunpecked · #7 March 28th, 2006, 04:47 PM

With regard to weapons on opposite sides of the ship, you could get the same effect as 3D rotation by just allowing all weapons to engage at once, regardless of facing.

narf poit chez BOOM · #8 March 28th, 2006, 08:38 PM

Homeworld and Homeworld2 both have 3d combat. Neither of them got as far in the market as many other RTS's. Many people just can't handle 3d combat.

Timstone · #9 March 30th, 2006, 09:27 AM

Quote:

BBegemott said:
...I think rotating along its own axis is much more cost efficient rather than making a big circle.
For this reason a new type of engines could be introduced- that provide rotating speed...

Never heard of the pilots saying: "A sitting duck is a dead duck."
It's best to be on the move, that way you're more difficult to hit. Go ahead and try it with a helicopter in any given flight sim.

Kana · #10 March 30th, 2006, 04:40 PM

I was wondering how range is calculated, and the size of the combat area in SEV? I was going over some material for my SFB mod, and was wondering if SEV uses some arbitrary LOS measurement (KM?, AU?) or if its still based on squares or hexes. Also the size of the combat area would affect the maximum range that we could apply to weapons, and the effects of movement of the ships. Especially if the retreat option is included.

Kana