SE5, Tell Aaron what's on your Wish List

[Hrothgar]

I just thought of an idea for a new feature for SEV--don't know what anyone else might think of it:

Variable weapons ranges and damage from game to game. In other words, in SEIV we all know before a game starts exactly how far an APB IV will fire and what damage it will inflict, so we devise our research plans accordingly. In reality, the effectiveness of new weapons based on new technical developments isn't known until they're made and tested [think of the atomic bomb program in WWII]. Could each different type of weapon have a variable starting point, with a variable incremental improvement as each new level was attained? That way, in one game, Ionic Dispersers might rule, while in another, they might be only moderately effective. This could also be extended to shields, and maybe ECM, sensors, etc.

This way, every game would be like the first one, with the player not knowing what might be the best research path to pursue. I've always been in favor of being able to discover things as you go along--I think it makes a game more interesting.

[Phoenix-D]

More, since I remembered more this time..ships should be able to be given launch orders even if they don't have anything in their cargo to launch. So you can order a ship to pick something up, move, and launch in the same turn. Also a # to launch menu would be nice.

On a similar note, it would be good if you could access the Retrofit menu even when selecting something that can't be retrofitted- like a warp point. So you don't have to scroll and select.

[Atrocities]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I love to mod this game. I think it is one of the games strongest assests.

Sure some things need to be fixed, but hey name one game that doens't have something wrong with it.

[Hrothgar]

Atrocities, I agree that the modding can be fun, and it's certainly one of the reasons the game's as popular as it is. But, there's one problem with mods--you can get to the point that no two players are playing the same game. This is of little significance if you only play solo--go ahead and change anything you want; you're modding the game to satisfy your own tastes, and that's all that matters. But, if you want to play against others, you obviously have to agree which Version you're going to play, and my guess is that the stock Version is always going to be the most commonly played. So, I want the stock Version to be as good as possible.

I say this despite the fact that I find some of the mods very interesting to play--like AST and Proportions. They both do some things better than the unmodded game. Haven't tried P&N yet, but it sounds good too. But, TDM's popularity--and I do have the impression that it's the most commonly played mod--lies, I think, in the fact that it doesn't change anything in the stock game, but simply reworks the AIs to provide more of a challenge. So, lessons learned in TDM are applicable to multiplayer unmodded games, while anything that you learn in a more extensive mod is likely to be applicable only to that mod.

[Q]

I agree with Atrocities. Without the possibility to mod I would have lost my interest in SE IV by now, no matter how good the standard game is. It is the modding that keeps my interest alive.
Therefore modding will be absolutely essential for my decision to buy SE V.
I might be wrong but if you count TDM, Proportion, Quadrant Mod together, the standard games might not be anymore the majority.

[ June 14, 2003, 07:04: Message edited by: Q ]

[Hrothgar]

Fyron, that's a good idea. Damage IS too predictable in SEIV. However, I don't see why both variables couldn't be included; for example, in one game:

DUC V damage 40-60 40-60 40-60 40-60 40-60

But, in another game:

DUC V damage 30-50 30-50 30-50 30-50

Possible variations in damage and range for a given weapon from game to game should probably not be too extreme, but even if it's only a 10-30% variation in average damage and a 10-30% variation in range, that would probably be enough to change the relative effectiveness of different weapons from game to game, so that it could pay off to be more flexible in your research plan than is currently the case--given that now we all know from the get-go EXACTLY what we'll get out of each research project.

Perhaps either or both of the variables above could be optional choices when setting up the game. If you wanted to play without them, you just wouldn't check the box to activate them.

[Fyron]

Your random damage suggestion should be a disableable option, yes. But my suggestion should not be. It makes no sense whatsoever to be able to do the exact same amount of damage with each of a half million shots (over time).

[Hrothgar]

Also, I want to clarify something. I am not opposed to mods! I enjoy playing AST and Proportions [not to mention the TDM mod, which I play to the exclusion of unmodded SEIV. However, I consider TDM to be in a different class, because it does not mod any of the given parameters of the game, but simply reworks the AIs so that they exploit the standard game mechanics more effectively], and I intend to try P&N as soon as I can. However, the problem which I was addressing with the Advanced Storage trait seems to me to be a fundamental game balance issue, which ought to be fixed in the standard game, not simply in a mod which will benefit only a fraction of SEIV players.

My only problem with mods is that an excessive number of mods makes comparison/competition/communication between players problematic. But, I'm not looking for SE5 to be any less "moddable" than SEIV. I just want fundamental problems handled in the standard game so that we don't have to make a mod simply to fix what seems to me to be an obvious flaw. I realize that what constitutes an "obvious flaw," as opposed to simply a matter of preference, depends somewhat on personal perception. But, that's why I raised the issue of Advanced Storage here, to see if I was the only one who disliked being forced to use Advanced Storage if you want to design an effective AI empire.

And, Fyron, that'd be fine with me.

[Fyron]

I just thought of an idea for a new feature for SEV--don't know what anyone else might think of it:

I would prefer having damage at each range be variable. I posted about this a long time ago in this thread (or maybe it was one of the other dozen SEV suggestion threads...). I'll dig up the post...

And here is that post:

In SE5, all damage should be random. There should be no static damage. Each damage at range value for a weapon should have a range of damage it can do, instead of a set damage. Here is an example of what I mean (not necessarily with actual SE4 values):

DUC V in SE4
Damage at range := 50 50 50 50 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

DUC V in SE5
Damage at range := 40-60 40-60 40-60 40-60 40-60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

So, at each range, instead of doing 50 damage with each shot, each shot will do somewhere between 40 and 60 damage. The range of values could be higher or lower; these are just arbitrary examples.

Randomness in damage values is much more realistic than the weapon always doing the same damage. Also, it is more unpredicatable, and reduces the certainty of victory that can be felt in SE4 as it is. If I have weapons that always do more damage than yours, I will most likely win (all else being equal). But if damage is fairly random, this certainty is removed, except with huge differences in tech levels.

Atrocities:
I shall allow my sig to speak for itself on that whole "I don't know about you but I like modding SE4" bit.

Q:
There is no chance that SE5 will not be moddable.

[ June 14, 2003, 12:17: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Stone Mill]

Customizable and Printable reports!

SEV should have a reporting feature with canned reports, customizable reports, and Ad-Hoc reports. I love data as well.

The icons on the SEIV GUI are essentially reports, and they do have a degree of customization (selecting different buttons while in a view).

It would be nice to have a customizable view to produce empire management reports. Also, there should be a printable report functionality (ability to export to .txt or .xls).