Ship combat experience

[Saber Cherry]

It seems to me that there should be a cost (to reflect the training and promotion of a commander) associated with fleet creation. Otherwise, aside from the micromanagement, it is always in your best interest to put even single ships into fleets.

[Loser]

The cost of training one man is insignificant compared to the scale of the game.

Misquote asside, I doubt it would require a single kiloton of anything. Really, that's a whole heck of a lot. These things being built in SE IV are freaking huge!

[PvK]

Originally posted by Saber Cherry:
It seems to me that there should be a cost (to reflect the training and promotion of a commander) associated with fleet creation. Otherwise, aside from the micromanagement, it is always in your best interest to put even single ships into fleets.

I'd say you're essentially correct. It could be done better, and there are some gameplay issues with the advantages and complications of fleet use.

PvK

[PvK]

Originally posted by Loser:
The cost of training one man is insignificant compared to the scale of the game.

Misquote asside, I doubt it would require a single kiloton of anything. Really, that's a whole heck of a lot. These things being built in SE IV are freaking huge!

If I understand Sabre Cherry, it's not that there should be a mass associated with a fleet. Mainly I think there are some issues with the current way it works, such as that there is a reward (especially with trained fleets) for doing something that is mainly a chore for the player. That the AI doesn't do it very well is another issue. Not a game-breaker, but these things could be done better.

PvK

[PvK]

Originally posted by geoschmo:

As long as you keep your ship fueled up it doesn't override your orders, correct? You just can't stray too far from the resupply depots? Also, might be good to have your ship fitted with an emergency resupply comp when it's avaialable.

Correct, but if you try it, you'll see that the range is about 40% the ship's real range, and does not take into account the distance to a resupply depot, so even if you are travelling near a resupply depot, the AI will force your fleet to take pointless detours to refuel when it still has ample supplies and is near a depot.

You'd want a supply storage comp more than an emergency resupply comp (or, as I suggested, a resupply ship in your fleet), because the problem is not actually running low on supplies, but with the Resupply Minister having a premature cow and recalling your ships at stupid times.

As far as your ship being out of date, stop at the nearest space yard and order a retrofit. That goes down as a ship order so should be his perogative, yes?

Yes I think it's fun to allow yourself to order retrofits and even the occasional custom design.

However, even when I play, say, an unmodded game on High research cost, it seems like things get researched quite fast, when I'm controlling only one fleet. This type of play involves many turns of cruising around, resupplying, etc., already. Each turn takes much less time to play than when playing as emperor. Needing to constantly retrofit isn't something I'd recommend - you'll have to do it plenty, even with High research costs set.

Also, I think it's a lot more fun and interesting to have things to look forward to, rather than having most of the tech tree burned through before much even happens, and then having a game you get involved in the story of, but there are few tech advantages left to look forward to. Again, I recommend high research costs, and/or using a mod like Proportions or AIC where research is slower (and where ship designs are more interesting). If you prefer the techs in some other mods like Star Trek, Adamant, Devnull, P&N, or whatever, use High research costs and/or consider hacking the mod to reduce the amount of research from research facs (though High is probably enough).

This does sounds like a very cool way to play, although it might be a bit akward for a multiplayer game on PBW.

PBW is a nice idea, but there are issues such as ensuring against cheating, that it would need to be turn-based movement, that players wouldn't interact much, and that if the players ever met in combat, it would require special intervention to resolve.

The SE4 By Committee game offers an interesting though slow way to do this multi-player, though.

PvK

[ October 16, 2003, 21:10: Message edited by: PvK ]