SE5, Tell Aaron what's on your Wish List

[DarkAnt]

so who is the poor sap who is going to have to go through all these ideas anyway?

[Me Loonn]

What i really would like is add something like "production clusters" - similar to ship fleets, but for planets :

- They can have planets added/removed just like ships in fleets currently

- The cluster acts as one planet does now, removing an item from the cluster window removes the item from the production queue of every planet in the cluster (ALOT easier to build defencive units, ships and fill the remaining fac slots)

Examples :
- If some planet has max facilities, the facilities are not added to the queue, as in now when using "fill queue" - lists.
- If some planet has no more cargo space, the units built are wasted, just like they are now (multi-add or fill queue).


IMHO, these "small" changes would remove TONS of boring, needless micromanagement that no one in their right mind wants to do. It gets really old when theres 300+ planets and 500+ baseyards around.

This combined with some changes in simul-move gamesystem - like choise how many units to launch, scrapping facility type that actually DOES scrap them and wont magically re-apphear by next turn - would make this game alot more fun.

For me, anyway - cant speak for anyone else

[Paul1980au]

Ditto the Last post esp ad multi queues for the same item to x amount of planets like multi upgrade now.

Being able to choose a specific amount of fighters to build to - ie enter a specific number.

[hobospecialist]

Well, here's 2 emails i sent kinda late to malfador about SEV, but it has a lot of my ideas.

Email 1:Hey, this is from a really big fan of SE series. Wow, i can't believe you're coming out with a SE V. The fourth one was cool, but it had some problems. This is a HUGE list of things i'm thinking of that i would like in the fifth one. I'm sorry if these ideas are kind of late. Let's start with the map editor.
Ok, so I could make my own map in the fourth, blah blah, everything still happened the same way (research and dominate). Maybe you can make it so you can already fix what ships are already on the playing screen, right? Then you could start out with only one ship and, i don't know, but there are so many possibilities of ship placement.
The next thing is, there should be in-game briefing Messages like the training level in SE 4, but I want it so that they have triggers, not just pressing next, and whatever. Like, if there's an enemy species if I kill them there should be an in-game message made in the map editor for that specific level, or if I attain who knows what tech level to give me a message.
Basically, if you've ever played starcraft, I want the map editor kinda like that. So say I wanted the player to eliminate all the other species then the game would recognize that, and a trigger i could make in the map editor would make my view zoom in to a system and show me an unknown ship use some tech the player's never seen before... ok, i'm lost... the point is, I really want an in-depth map editor, not just the map editor. Again, i'm only trying to give you ideas of what i think would make the game great that i've seen in other games, i'm not trying to ruin your pleasure of programming.
Another thing, now for map customization in the editor. I want to let one player use this kind of tech with a limit but i want another player to have less a limit for more of a challenge, to put it one way.
Can you also add some sort of campaign, even if it's loosely affiliated? I like having different objectives for different levels sometimes. And you know what would be cool in the game? You don't see the systems you don't have a link to unless you know about them or the map has it unveiled. E.G. Super aliens with supertech from a system ive never seen comes and invades me would have a great twist to it.
Ok, now for the A.I. Let them use all of their research points, not just up to four researches at one time. And how about they ask me for things and i ask them for things in return. I want the inteligence levels and things like that to affect how much i can take advantage of that race in trading.
I never could figure out how to do this in any simple modding for SE 4, but I would really like it if the weapons could be specialized to target every kind of component or facility, like only kill resource generating facilities, etc. I would like in the combat mode if i have a really big ship (Battlecruiser) to see that it's a lot bigger than a little escort my opponent has. Hmm... let's see, what else.
Oh yes, about the tech tree. Come on, how did my race already learn warp travel, heh? And how did they find out about propulsion? I think all tech should start as five or six different categories put in theoretical techs, and you research from there and you get more general tech that way. Here's another thing, I think there should be some kind of experience, like in SE 4, but every time you get experience points (your race evolved a little) you get to improve their stats a little.
A really important thing, I really love just destroying everything in a system and making it a gas cloud, but i can't run a race off the gas? Shouldn't there be tech that lets you do that (gas mining, etc)
And to the cultural traits in the beginning, ive tried editing the TXT's but there is no way to give them a requirement. It should be in some sort of order, kind of like a tech tree, only, a cultural trait tree. One thing leads to more options, some costing more than others.
Ok, about researching. I think that it should take more than one research completion to get different kinds of other tech areas and technology. Say you have temporal studies at level 1 and propulsion at level six, you should get a higher propulsion that the other race, unless they have temporal studies at level 2 maybe?
When i find tech it's not really worth it, with the supertech. I mean, yay, i have 5000 shielding for my planets, so what? How about that new tech starts a whole chain of new techs, eh? then you can combine it with other techs you find for an even longer chain of techs. Maybe an ancient race had super-shield draining tech, another one had super propulsion, and a Last one had really good EMP tech or whatever. Those could be combined in a new tech, say EMP Rockets, which have a really long range,say 35, but travel kinda slowly, only 5 per turn, but did a huge amount of damage to shields and disabled the target ship's weapons for five turns when it hit, that would be cool.
One Last thing, that is JUST and idea, i don't even think you'll have the time to do it. How about making the planets RTS places? Like, as an option, i could have the game automatically (in 5 seconds) decide the winner of the planet when both our races are on, or i could build a base, use resources and the techs i have to build units and get rid of the invading enemy, or invade the enemy with my elite technology. This is just an idea though.
Ok, that's gonna be all for tonight, i might email again tomorrow if i think of anything.

Email 2:Here are some other ideas that i've thought about in the Last few hours. Maybe when you make an alliance, there should be something like big countries have the U.N., there could be something like that. Or maybe if a race is so powerful, when it has alliances, it can make the rules for the other races, like no this kind of tech or no colonizing this planet, etc, but if you set those rules, you follow them too, like you can research the tech and hide it, so they won't know you have it, and then use it to kill everyone. You could also set taxes for the other races.

Yeah, i have a lot of ideas, don't i

[Kevin Arisa]

I was just thinking that it would be a good idea to make plagues attach themselves to population and ship crews. It would cause a player to be very careful about a plagued planet. Quarentine (sp?) will be a very important tactic to prevent the plague from spreading to other planets. When a plagued ship resupplies at a planet the plague is transferred. Also, medical facilities and components should have a percent chance per turn of curing a plague instead of a set effect. The component should have a much lower percent. Also, I think the percent chances should stack. The plague effect itself should run on a percent of infection instead of the entire planet instantly becoming infected. I think this would greatly improve this area of the game.

[Paul1980au]

Yes perhaps a % chance depending on medical tech level and plague level. Yes it would add a strategic element to the game also as it would force you to limit said fleets exposure.

[Suicide Junkie]

There was a run of Posts about plagues a while back, where we also discussed including detailed effects:
% with no symptoms
% incapacitated
% dead

# turns for incubation
- (plague is infectious, and spreads to ships but no signs of danger until the timer expires)

Possibly even with the % incapacitated greater than 100%, since the sick have to be tended by the healthy
A nasty plague would be one with almost no deaths, but 300% incapacitation and a long incubation period... it could shut down a system or two incredibly quickly after it breaks loose, leaving the system vulnerable to invasion, and maybe even disabling a pile of defense ships (from the crew losses)

[Tnarg]

Shot in the dark but worth a try.

Is there any possibility that multiple data files (from seperate and distinct mods) can be used at once. Or a way to have several directory paths in one game.

Example:
The Star Wars Mod II, Star Trek Mod, and base SEIVG are completely different in the lines of tech trees, hull sizes, and other items make them distinct and obviously uncompatible. But wouldn't it be neat if in one game there would be completely seperate tech paths for different races. It would in my opinion bring the concept of unique and "alien" to the game as far as extreme difference between races.

Kind of in the lines of the first two mentioned Mods that specific races can only reseach special technology akin to there race, but every thing else is available to them as well.

Shot in the dark, but hopefully some one might see the light in this.

[FLX]

I wish a more user-friendly ia config, for strategies creation.

[PeterD]

I'm sure this has been suggested before but I'd
like a more agressive AI.

I often see fleets of enemy ships wander past my
colonisers or outPosts and leave them alone.

If I setup a base in one of the AI's systems he
will quite often attack it but not all the time.

Surely its not difficult to have each system
tagged as one to attack or leave alone depending
on whether it belongs to a friend or foe.

The AI also sometimes sends a stream of single
ships through a warp point instead of forming a
fleet which would easily defeat the guard ships
I have there.