Welcome Star Legacy Development Group!

[Alikiwi]

I'll have to tweak some controls! Moddable is what the game is about actually. To this end we plan to have abilities open-ended so there will be no fixed list of abilities, but it will be coded so that a Modder can insert any ability almost.

There is the possibility of Ground Turrets that can be moved into position (prior to combat) and colony ships and/or others moving /taking with them, prefab buildings to supplement those already existing WIP

Ops

[MarcoPolo]

I think the idea of races being different and more suited to one planet type than another should be explored more as a gameplay dynamic. Furthermore this should throw up more interesting possibilities to enrich the game universe, such as incompatible tech trees, preferrability to colonising certain planet types over others (perhaps having several distinct alien types eg insectoid, reptilian and mammalian/humanoid, aquatic/squid?, crystalline/silicon based life or AI from a long dead race) just examples that conjure up very distinct tech types and unique civilisation and govt styles in my mind. If you have say a race of insectoids they could be more favourable when meeting other insectoid races, or even AI civilisations for instance, given their robotic sense of order.

Another example woudl be.. aquatic species having a totally different tech tree to terrestrial humanoids because of the different focus and evolution of their science, by the same token it would mean aquatic races would be more suited to waterworlds anything under 30% water 70% land (depending on planet size etc) would be counterproductive to a water based lifeforms technological development and infrastructural needs. Its also important to note that stealing from such aliens if your not an aquatic species yourself will pose some major limitations. But they would be excellent in providing powerful technology in water based sciences even if your humanoid or another race that needs some tech in say enriching a planet with water or terraforming.

I would appreciate it immensely if because of this diversity, we can see some races excelling in harsher star systems that humanoids would avoid more often than not. For example a nuetron star would be lethal to humans and practically a wasteland system, but for AI it could serve up some research bonuses to its science outposts and even provide some benefits to settling on a long dead planet that circles it. This actually makes me wonder if Star Legacy will make star systems spectrally accurate ie giving different star types in the game ranging from G type stars all the way to blue giants and beyond. This would alter the options of how many planets per star type if some accuracy is to be worked into the game.

I dont know how elaborate this games stories intend on being, ie Galactic Civs II, but i would enjoy some long standing rivalries to play some role in developing a history amongs certain races. This way providing a predisposition between race types or govt styles that help the player or hinder them when dealing in the game universe diplomatically and technologicaly (eg CIV IV). Of course this feature could be disabled. However anything to add a sense of history to the race your playing cant be a bad thing, I think alot of gamers appreciate their player race not just being some forgettable rehashed alien species that has been done to death. Even if its a bug eyed alien seen on every game to date, at least some effort put in making it distinct from the pile of other bug eyed aliens in games past ie, history, govt ambitions, planet type and unique tech tree.

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally Posted by MarcoPolo

I think the idea of races being different and more suited to one planet type than another should be explored more as a gameplay dynamic. Furthermore this should throw up more interesting possibilities to enrich the game universe, such as incompatible tech trees, preferrability to colonising certain planet types over others (perhaps having several distinct alien types eg insectoid, reptilian and mammalian/humanoid, aquatic/squid?, crystalline/silicon based life or AI from a long dead race) just examples that conjure up very distinct tech types and unique civilisation and govt styles in my mind. If you have say a race of insectoids they could be more favourable when meeting other insectoid races, or even AI civilisations for instance, given their robotic sense of order.

Another example would be.. aquatic species having a totally different tech tree to terrestrial humanoids because of the different focus and evolution of their science, by the same token it would mean aquatic races would be more suited to waterworlds anything under 30% water 70% land (depending on planet size etc) would be counterproductive to a water based lifeforms technological development and infrastructural needs. Its also important to note that stealing from such aliens if your not an aquatic species yourself will pose some major limitations. But they would be excellent in providing powerful technology in water based sciences even if your humanoid or another race that needs some tech in say enriching a planet with water or terraforming.

I would appreciate it immensely if because of this diversity, we can see some races excelling in harsher star systems that humanoids would avoid more often than not. For example a nuetron star would be lethal to humans and practically a wasteland system, but for AI it could serve up some research bonuses to its science outposts and even provide some benefits to settling on a long dead planet that circles it. This actually makes me wonder if Star Legacy will make star systems spectrally accurate ie giving different star types in the game ranging from G type stars all the way to blue giants and beyond. This would alter the options of how many planets per star type if some accuracy is to be worked into the game.

Yes, it is important and very beneficial to work elements of simulation into the game. Science fiction needs to be vaguely related to real-world science in order to be believable. The generic 'conditions' that work the same for all races in the SE series have always been an annoyance. It would be great to have even a simple system of atmosphere type, temperature range, and gravity level like Stars! had. Radiation level would be a useful fourth factor.

What about biological weapons and medical technology to treat plagues? Those should also be distinct. A virus that can kill mammals or avians living at earth-normal temperature is not even going to survive in the environment that supports silicon-based life (always very high temperatures and pressures due to the need for those condition to make complex silicon compounds similar to complex carbon life). That goes for natural (plague) or artificial (bioweapons).

So, there needs to be a sort of 'genetic code' for all species in the game, describing their characteristics. Very general things, like silicon or carbon based, and broad factors like humanoid, avian, insectoid, etc. And also distinct individual codes so you can target a species individually. At low levels, a bioweapon should only kill a single species. As biotech advances though, it could become more flexible and able kill a broader range of species if you want it to. But there should never be a universal bioweapon. There is just too much variation in the species included in a good 4X game.

[Q]

Originally Posted by Alikiwi

Moddable is what the game is about actually. To this end we plan to have abilities open-ended so there will be no fixed list of abilities, but it will be coded so that a Modder can insert any ability almost.

That is exactely what I want! Star Legacy gets more and more my attention. If there is any need for beta-testers, I would be interested.

[Black_Knyght]

The one common factor we all had in starting this was to create a better, less restricted, more moddable game in the vein of SE4, with a similar theme and feel, but with an updated scheme. SE5 failed miserably here on many counts

Obviously we want to add new and unique content, but need to maintain a sense of the familiar too in order to draw existing SE fans as well as create new Star Legacy fans.

[Timstone]

Ceating new TBS fans? Hmm... that will be very difficult, but that's another discussion.
I really appreciate that Alikiwi gives us a few more nice little details to mull over.

Any news on a website, screenies, production progress, etc.?

[Fyron]

Timstone, did you see the link to the dev site Alikiwi posted earlier?

Originally Posted by Alikiwi

You can check out the discussions over here > http://www.kenvsthecity.com/se45/

[MarcoPolo]

This sounds like it will be a superb game.

Im just wondering how colonisation of planets and hence star systems will take place. Will it be a kind of spore/light of altair type system where players allocate afew colonies on a single planet and go from there? Or will it be more like Hegemonia or Sins of a Solar Empire where each planet only gets colonised once and everything continues on from there with a population count gradually rising as improvements are developed?

Also I was wondering how the star systems would be represented visually. I was particularly impressed with Hegemonia, I mean here is a dx8 game that looks so stunning and outclasses many post dx9 games of the same genre. I just like the way the gas giants were portrayed and many were so beautifully rendered that some of the time I would zoom in and just stare at the planetscapes that were quite breathtaking. I also liked how there were various levels of habitable worlds, from acidic, barren, to terrestrial, and gaia world meaning very hospitable even more so than most earth like planets.

What dismays me is when you dont get a feel for the scope of your burgeoning stellar empire because the game makers played down the representations of the planets and made them bland and uninspiring. Anything along the lines of Hegemonia or even Nexus Jupiter incident planetscapes would keep me happy. And the more diversity in stars system layouts the better.

Cheer.

[Alikiwi]

MarcoPolo, I have Haegemonia, but the damn thing locked up at a certain point early in the game :-( Yes, nice graphics. Could well be like that, zoomable, scrollable system display. Planets are likely to have dual atmospheres with a major and minor element, eg Hydrogen/Methane etc.. Colonising will be done with colony ships, possibly building a colony hub as the first building. However, we are hoping to put in an element so it is possibly for TWO races to colonise at the same time, to provide a very serious challenge or interesting co-operative situation.

Now I have a serious question to ask, or opinion sort really. There are a couple of ways that ship hulls can be looked at (well more actually). I'd like to know what players think between these two options? Both allow for multiple levels (via research) of the same hull, giving bigger sizes each time. Option a) has variable levels (written next to them).
Option b) always has 3 levels
Please tell me which option you prefer, or c) Prefer neither!
First is smallest, last biggest in each group.

A) Scout x3 Frigate x3 Destroyer x3 Cruiser x3 Battleship x3
(Carriers) Escort Carrier x5 Fleet Carrier x 5
(Bases) Space Station x5 Starbase x5
(Transports) Courier x5 Transport x4 Freighter x3

B) Explorer, Frigate, First Destroyer, Heavy Destroyer, First Cruiser, Heavy Cruiser, Battlecruiser, Battleship, Heavy Battleship, Juggernaut.
(Carriers) Escort Carrier, Light Carrier, Carrier
(Bases) Defense Base, Base, Starbase
(Transports) Small Transport, Transport, Heavy Transport
Rescue/Tow ship

Note b) all have 3 levels (sizes) available.
Note 2, Both also have a colony ship (3 sizes)
I would appreciate your thoughts, a), b) or OMG c) Thanks

[Alikiwi]

Thanks Fyron, I couldn't have said it better myself! :-)