Things we'd like to see in the next patch

[Zanthis]

If you're gonna be buying supplies with resources, I'd suggest a conVersion setup something like this:

• 1 of any single resource type = 1 supply
• 1 of two different resource types = 3 supply
• 1 of all three resource types = 6 supply

This encourages you to use all three resources, but if you happen to have a stockpile of one specific type, you can convert just that resource into supply.
It goes without saying that extra resources that exceed your storage should automatically be converted into supply for you at the most favorable rate (e.g., an extra 100 minerals and 50 organics would yield 200 supply).

[Puke]

I like Dogscoff and Klaus's ideas alot, although i dont think im for the whole 'buying' or 'converting' supplies idea. i like micromanagment, but not that much, and i like the ability to ignore micromanagment if i want.

[DirectorTsaarx]

Originally posted by Baron Munchausen:

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Originally posted by DirectorTsaarx:

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Originally posted by dogscoff:

-Limited supply generation and storage for facilities (instead of just the "quantum reactor" resupply depot we have now)

I'd suggest extended that idea so we "buy" supplies with resources; I know the game tries to model this with maintenance costs, but if we're going to limit the supplies available at a resupply depot, there needs to be a way to buy extra supplies. And maybe the supply generation should be tied to production - the more mins/orgs/rads you produce, the more supplies are available...

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It certainly sounds reasonable for a Resupply Depot to COST a certain amount of resources to operate each turn. But you could just as easily reason that the maintenance costs of ships is precisely the resources cost of the supplies they use (along with replacement parts, etc.). So, it's kind of a "six of one, half a dozen of the other" situation...

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Yeah, my idea only has merit if we accept the idea that a resupply depot only creates X number of supplies per turn. There'd have to be a minimum number of supplies it can generate, but we should be able to "buy" more (just like resource conVersion). As Baron points out (and I pointed out in the original post), we're already paying a "maintenance cost" for each ship that theoretically covers the cost of supplies, but then again it takes a lot more to maintain a battleship that's actively engaged in a campaign than it does to maintain that same battleship on routine patrol. So, I'd contend that the built-in maintenance cost is for supplying a ship on routine patrol; during long campaigns, more supplies would be required. As the game stands now, those extra supplies just "appear" magically at resupply depots, but if a resupply depot has to store supplies and/or generate those supplies at some specified rate, there should be a way to force the generation of those supplies. I suggested tying supply generation to production because empires with large production surpluses ought to have the ability to produce more supplies than empires that are barely able to pay maintenance costs on the existing ships. And also as a way to reduce the micromanagement of converting resources to supplies.

I'd probably also recommend levels of "resupply" facilities, tied to the existing resupply research chain, so at resupply level 5 you'd get both a quantum reactor component and a quantum reactor facility. BTW - if we end up with a resupply depot that only produces a set number of supplies per turn, then bases would need to be changed as well...

I also think MM should have implemented the proposed feature (way back during the initial design phase of SE4) of being able to "buy" research - i.e., convert extra resources into research points (or even intelligence points) in an emergency. Unfortunately, the AI would never be able to use that properly...

[Krsqk]

"I like Dogscoff and Klaus's ideas alot, although i dont think im for the whole 'buying' or 'converting' supplies idea. i like micromanagment, but not that much, and i like the ability to ignore micromanagment if i want."
What a great excuse for a new Supply Requisition minister. Or, maybe, a new function for the Resupply minister...We all know how intelligent he is.

[Barnacle Bill]

Originally posted by jimbob:

2) the introduction of Plug & Play components. That's right, introduce a component that is essentially a socket, into which you can plug specially designed components of the correct size. Then players can trade individual pluggable components to one another (or purchase with cash on the open market) that can then be integrated onto any ship with the correct socket size/type.
While this would require huge amounts of hard code change, just think of the possibilities!

The original (1977) Version of Starfire had this. You put whatever letter represented your weapon inside [] on the control sheet. It cost extra, but then you could swap out weapons at no cost. That Version really had no campaign (well the "Starfire III: Empires" expansion, but not until 1980), just suggestions for how one might be implimented, but IIRC that is where the optional rule for this was, and it suggested that you could build the weapons separately and store them at planets. One thing we talked about doing was using Stellar Conquest as a strategic module for Starfire, converting each Stellar Conquest IU into some number of Starfiire McR, and otherwise following the suggested rules from the back of the STarfire manual. We never got around to trying it, though.

[geoschmo]

You can give a resupply facility a negative amount of resource production. It does work. It's like maintenance for facilities. There owuld be a couple of wierd things though. If you can get past them though it will approximate what you are wanting I guess.

First of all, it would cost you resources every turn the resupply facility is in operation, not just when ships are refueling. And it wouldn't cost you any more to refuel a bunch of ships than it would to refuel one, so it wouldn't be a true "resources to supply" converter.

Secondly in a regular infinite resource game it would be cheaper to put a resupply depot on a low resource world than on a high resources one. Just as a resource extractor produces less on a low resource world, the negative production on the facility would be factored by the value of the planet. On a planet with all zeros it would be free to operate.

Thirdly in a limited resource game, the facility would actually improve the value of the planet it was on, just like a value improvement plant. But it would work on a fixed rate instead of a percentage like a value improvement plant does.

Geoschmo

[Krsqk]

You could give it the Solar Resource Generation ability with a negative number--but then binary and trinary star systems pay more.

[DirectorTsaarx]

Originally posted by geoschmo:
You can give a resupply facility a negative amount of resource production. It does work. It's like maintenance for facilities. There owuld be a couple of wierd things though. If you can get past them though it will approximate what you are wanting I guess.

First of all, it would cost you resources every turn the resupply facility is in operation, not just when ships are refueling. And it wouldn't cost you any more to refuel a bunch of ships than it would to refuel one, so it wouldn't be a true "resources to supply" converter.

Secondly in a regular infinite resource game it would be cheaper to put a resupply depot on a low resource world than on a high resources one. Just as a resource extractor produces less on a low resource world, the negative production on the facility would be factored by the value of the planet. On a planet with all zeros it would be free to operate.

Thirdly in a limited resource game, the facility would actually improve the value of the planet it was on, just like a value improvement plant. But it would work on a fixed rate instead of a percentage like a value improvement plant does.

Geoschmo

I'd never even considered modding the current game to include paying for supplies... sounds like my initial thought holds true, that it's fairly useless unless resupply depots are changed to produce limited amounts of supply. Which isn't likely to happen as a patch for SE4; but maybe for SE5 (which, if all the way-out ideas on the forum as a whole are implemented, could really be micromanagement hell... but we'd probably all still love it )

[HEMAN]

What i would like to see in the next patch is: (Print out) feature, when i finished setting up a game i would like to see everything on(setup) related to this. this way after playing 500 turns in a certain game, my memory is kinda Blank.

Ferengi Rules of Acquisition #97 Enough...is never enough.

[Elowan]

We all know (most of us - that is) by now -- that SE IV can be a micro-management nightmare.

One of those nightmares was upgrading a facility on a zillion planets. This is a breeze if you click on the Planet icon (upper left) and then click on Upgrade Facilities. Yahoo!

This doesn't help - though - for those inevitable 'lost' planets whom you (the emperor or whatever) has neglected to fill the build queue. Now you have to wade through a zillion planets to find the ones that have some slots open.

If there's a way of showing just the 'open-slot' planets -- I haven't found it yet. But wouldn't it be nice if you could set the list so that only undeveloped or partially undeveloped planets would show up?

Works for me!