Welcome Star Legacy Development Group!

[Edi]

This is starting to sound better and better!

[Louist]

Engines as weapons are very cool if rarely used.

[Sandow]

I'm going to be one of those voices who cheers for 2D. It's much easier for me to create mods when the graphics are essentially simple.
My all time favorite 4X games (after SEIV of course) is Emperor of the Fading Suns. After multiple patches it actually became an addictive and playable game with turn based ground combat as well as space slug-fests.

[Alikiwi]

Being a Modder myself, 2D is the best way to go. Less chance of a slow pc, and although great graphics is nice, it's the gameplay that brings you back time after time! Mind you, you'll find the graphics pretty damn good anyway
Now, where did I leave that Rescue ship? I've got a crippled cruiser needing a tow....

[Xrati]

For those with older comp's, 2D is great. There is no real reason for 3D graphics in a 4X game. If you want 3D then go buy one of the 'Shoot'em Ups' or 'Flight Sims' out there. Those are, after all, combat sims and this IS a turn based strategy game, not real time. No need to mix the two.

[InfStorm]

3d would be cool for computer controlled fights, but 2D is much easier for people to use when controlling the fight. Brings back days of Starfleet Battles, Star Fronties space battles, and many many others growing up. (hope I'm not dating myself whoth those references.

Looking forward to seeing more about the game's content. Hope there is more to planet management and ship construction than was in Stars! or the Space Empires series (or others).

[Edi]

Oh, the Star Frontiers reference gives me quite enough of a date, but it is because I am so intimately familiar with that.

Oh, the glorious battles we had, I still remember many of them now, 18 years later, and how the GM was fit to chew the hex map and the tabletop for good measure when his best laid plans disintegrated under the withering hail of one in a million shots worthy of Luke Skywalker's trench run...

[MarcoPolo]

I think the game combat system can be 2D and a half :P and still be quite gratuitous. You need only look at "gratuitous space battles" to see an example of 2D space battles done correctly and still with a sense of grandour and epicness. I challenge anyone to say this 2D combat wouldnt enrich the gaming experience enough for this game.

The battle arenas or battlefields could reflect some of the landscapes or solar system conditions found in each users territory (eg nebulas, asteroid field, gas giants) All this could throw in conditions such as reduced speed, or debris field damage or sheilds being inoperable making armoured ships more valuable in such scenarios. The possibilities are endless.

I would also encourage a grading system of resources were each solar system would have either an abundance or ore or gas minerals depending on how many terrestrial or jovian planets it had. Also developing a solid infrastructure in your home solar system before venturing off into space should be the early focus of each player, (this being developing better technologies for resource collecting and colonisation, where the player could experience its own growing pains when colonising its own solar system)

Id like to see tech levels visible on a planetary scale. By this i mean its possible to visit a planet were all the inhabitants are still pre space faring, this could throw up interesting govt options which would align the player with good or evil politics. It could mean that a player would decide to either protect non-space faring nations without interference, trade with them raw materials in exchange for your technology and ultimately become a member world of your empire or exploit them(slavery) or annihilate them for colonisation(genocide)

Also having varying tech levels when doing a planet scan, would allow the player to decide on a wealth of new diplomatic options that would otherwise been only the same old boring good vs evil ones. Also if a player gets into the habit of just taking over planetary systems like games in the past, it quickly becomes a race for resources in the most uncreative way. This way a player can still gain other things, like favour amongst the other races when trading or negotiating treaties or border disputes, going by the way its handles its politics in the past with small nations or even non space faring worlds.

Just one of my many ideas for this game:P

Sorry for the longwinded descriptions.

[Alikiwi]

GSB, already looked at that. Certainly nice graphics but at least we will be able to control our ships and move them as we see fit. They will also be able to retreat if thats necessary

Quote : Also developing a solid infrastructure in your home solar system before venturing off into space should be the early focus of each player,

Thats a player choice (certainly not mine :-) ) and the player/s will have plenty of choices. The idea of finding primitive (pre space flight) races has also been considered, and hopefully will happen.

A far greater flexibility in treaties is also expected and hopefully when you ask an AI for help, you will actually get it! The ability to steal enemy suplies from their ships is an uncomfirmed rumour

[Timstone]

Alikiwi:
Hehehe... you've spilled some beans mate. Care to share more?