Ship Talk

[MarcoPolo]

I was under the impression that this game will have a 2D style of battle system.

It does make sense to makes things more simplistic in the interests of maintaining acheivable game dynamics without resorting to a more complicated 3D style gameplay.

I urge the makers to look at "Gratuitous Space Battles" to see a balance of ship customisation on a 2D plane versus something more elaborate like Sins of a Solar Empire. I for one have no qualms about embracing either style. I hope that in the same vein as GSB it takes a playful approach to working within the confines of unique interplanetary battlefield conditions, like nebulas, asteroid belts playing some role in affecting battle dynamics. This should keep things interesting, and provoke gamers to utilise the space environments to wage a battle and outweigh which ship types to bring into the fray against their opponent. Should make for interesting choices in battle tactics and skill rather than maintaining a might in numbers tank rush that has a propensity in happening most times.

Cheers.

[jars_u]

Originally Posted by MarcoPolo

....I urge the makers to look at "Gratuitous Space Battles" to see a balance of ship customisation on a 2D plane versus something more elaborate like Sins of a Solar Empire... Should make for interesting choices in battle tactics and skill rather than maintaining a might in numbers tank rush that has a propensity in happening most times.

GSB didn't really excite me but I thought the overall concept certainly has some merits that can be utilized in a turn based execution. I agree that having a legion of ships and just throwing them at the enemy is a non-starter. I'd really like to see fewer ships (certainly fewer capital ships) and a greater emphasis placed on crew experience (minor bonuses) or even a very minor RPG aspect for ship captains (again capital ships) maybe something similar to Advance Wars.

[Ed Kolis]

Heh, if we have heroes with battlefield-wide or localized effects like the CO's in Advance Wars (I liked how in Days of Ruin the CO actually had a location on a unit and only affected nearby units ), we really ought to have a captain by the name of Kwok who's a master of programming AI-controlled drone units, and thus provides a bonus to seeking missile weapons!

[Ed Kolis]

Actually, perhaps even better than MOO2 style "mercenary" heroes, would be if heroes appeared like the "Great People" in Civ4 based on points earned by an empire, but then the heroes could also be renamed by the player or at least have names selected from a list based on the empire that spawned them and their role!

So if you're using a Klingon shipset, your military heroes might get names like Kahless and Kor, but if you're playing as, oh, I dunno, the Polish Revivalist Dominion (hehe, anyone get the reference?) you might get heroes like Walesa (a political leader) and Wojtila (a religious leader) Of course the Klingons would have political and religious leaders, and the Poles would have military leaders - I just can't think of any names at the moment :P

[Xrati]

Kazimer Pulaski comes to mind...

Don't forget the science or mining hero! Where they bring advantages in their fields to your empire.

[Skyburn]

Originally Posted by Ed Kolis

Actually, perhaps even better than MOO2 style "mercenary" heroes, would be if heroes appeared like the "Great People" in Civ4 based on points earned by an empire, but then the heroes could also be renamed by the player or at least have names selected from a list based on the empire that spawned them and their role!

How would an empire earn points? Some kind of prestige system?

[Ed Kolis]

Not sure, it was a vague idea :P Maybe you build "academy" facilities which produce leader points, or maybe they could even be generated based on what a ship or planet is doing... a ship with lots of experience might have a chance to generate a legendary commander on board, while a planet with lots of research labs could have a chance to generate a legendary scientist?

[Skyburn]

Maybe a prestige system? The leader would need to be present at important events to gain prestige points (PP) and you could decide how to spend them to improve the leader's abilities.

[Xrati]

Most games that have training set limits on how much you can get. The rest is based on actual combat or science missions. It makes sense, you can't become a legend sitting in an academy! (although I know some people who think so)
Also, once assigned, the officer could not be transfered to another ship. This will avoid heavy game mechanics to track this.

[Q]

Sorry, but for me that's sound like micromanagement hell and the AI....