Suggested polishings based on early games

[eidolad]

Hi,

Liking the game and hoping it will stand the test of time. Some early game notes/suggestions:

Gameplay niceties:

1. A confirmation option to *not allow research proceed unless* the player chooses a specialization.

2. A research queuing box: Let me choose a set of items to research in order, say five items. I'm usually following the exact path of research to item A, item B, item C, etc. For example: I want to research everything to outfit a particular early game ships I want: heavy ion, triple turret, enhanced tungsten armor, and armor piercing missile.

a. extra credit: uncheck "pausing" for intermediate research items in the queue. I only want the game to pause when the "key" tech has been researched from my queue.

3. Display the current research item on the main game map

4. The ability to auto-retreat from a battle (of course with chance to lose the retreating ship)

5. Add an option: When player deletes a ship design, *permanently* delete the design. Old test designs keep reappearing in every single game instance. I imagine there is a file somewhere but still...let the delete button really mean "delete". And/or have two options: "delete from disk" vs. "delete from this game instance".


Minor fixes:

1. Sometimes when I click on a battle the enemy ship auto-retreats. That is NOT what I wanted to happen. I wanted to fight that battle against the retreating enemy ship(s). My fighters have a decent chance of catching and killing the retreating enemy before they retreat. This has, maddeningly, happened once to me when I was the defender. A fair chance to kill a single enemy ship turns into an auto fail.

This is really annoying with single pirate ships: who just auto-retreat with their seemingly endless fuel and pin down a player fleet (and a refueler or two).


Random map generator enhancements:

1. A game option to alter the chance of habitability of the planets.

As they called it in Sword of the Stars forums: the Sadorandomizer often results in really horrible beginning scenarios. Part of the reason this happens is that there is no control over choosing the "habitability" of the galaxy. The player can "even things out for all empires" by upping the chance <some planet type>, and lowering others perhaps.

2. An option for additional adjacent starting planets. For the player, and/or some/all of the starting AI empires. This is very useful for both in terms of custom difficulty and for a rapid-start theme. This alone adds many layers of additional difficulty and game customization. I.e. one AI empire can be given three starting planets. Can anyone else beat them?

3. An option to increase the length of the FTL paths between planets. Perhaps I'd like to slow exploration down, or speed it up? Sorry if this is already there in the options and I missed it.

4. An option to start everyone's homeworld with an orbiting battle station and 50 fighters. I just had a game "ruined" because the enemy arrived in orbit, demanded that I give up my homeworld immediately, and then declared war. Couldn't build ships and just simply stuck.

5. An option to increase the travel distance of ships (perhaps tweak how much fuel the various fuel tanks can carry). Or a tech to build a simple resupply base. Or did I miss some tech that does this? Waiting around for refuelers is really annoying sometimes.

[Ghrathryn]

2. A research queuing box: Let me choose a set of items to research in order, say five items. I'm usually following the exact path of research to item A, item B, item C, etc. For example: I want to research everything to outfit a particular early game ships I want: heavy ion, triple turret, enhanced tungsten armor, and armor piercing missile.

a. extra credit: uncheck "pausing" for intermediate research items in the queue. I only want the game to pause when the "key" tech has been researched from my queue.

This could well be useful, particularly when you want to set up research tracks as you said, most notably things like engines, power, fuel, hull and weapon.

3. Display the current research item on the main game map

I think this is a bit of a problem with strategy games these days, we get ones like MOO's reboot, XCOM or the like with research shown and with others like this it gets annoying to keep double checking what we're looking into next through a separate screen.

Random map generator enhancements:

1. A game option to alter the chance of habitability of the planets.

As they called it in Sword of the Stars forums: the Sadorandomizer often results in really horrible beginning scenarios. Part of the reason this happens is that there is no control over choosing the "habitability" of the galaxy. The player can "even things out for all empires" by upping the chance <some planet type>, and lowering others perhaps.

I think a habitablity and mineral richness of the galaxy could be nice, if only to increase the odds of finding something useful within range. Colony ships, without a refuel can get around 30k from home (with a fuel heavy design), but given the paths, that could only get them the next closest system when all's said and done while the decent worlds are at 50k away through the hyper lanes.

2. An option for additional adjacent starting planets. For the player, and/or some/all of the starting AI empires. This is very useful for both in terms of custom difficulty and for a rapid-start theme. This alone adds many layers of additional difficulty and game customization. I.e. one AI empire can be given three starting planets. Can anyone else beat them?

You mean sort of like the distance variable Distant Worlds offers on pirates and other races? Or do you mean more along the lines of the 'age' of the empire?

4. An option to start everyone's homeworld with an orbiting battle station and 50 fighters. I just had a game "ruined" because the enemy arrived in orbit, demanded that I give up my homeworld immediately, and then declared war. Couldn't build ships and just simply stuck.

Would be useful to have a pre-set defence force at the home planet, even if they are beginning tech.

5. An option to increase the travel distance of ships (perhaps tweak how much fuel the various fuel tanks can carry). Or a tech to build a simple resupply base. Or did I miss some tech that does this? Waiting around for refuelers is really annoying sometimes.

Far as I can see a fuel tanker can carry as much fuel as you devote to tanks along with the power to run them. Something I do is set up stellar converters/collectors on my scouts. In theory you could set up ships to sit at certain points with a converter and a ruck of fuel but low engines, though it could be an idea to set up fuel and converters for stations. Battle sats can't, but if any could, they could be shipped out to uncolonised worlds to simply sit as fuel depots. Other than that, otherwise useless habitable worlds with little else there since they grant infinite fuel.

[eidolad]

eidolad wrote:
2. An option for additional adjacent starting planets. For the player, and/or some/all of the starting AI empires. This is very useful for both in terms of custom difficulty and for a rapid-start theme. This alone adds many layers of additional difficulty and game customization. I.e. one AI empire can be given three starting planets. Can anyone else beat them?



You mean sort of like the distance variable Distant Worlds offers on pirates and other races? Or do you mean more along the lines of the 'age' of the empire?

...Sorry I should have said "additional adjacent *owned* planets for a given empire": I would like an option, if I choose, to add a number of addition fully developed and owned planets, at the very start of the game, to any/all/none of the empires in the game.

I used to do this sort of thing in Sword of the Stars prime, where I would give the Zu'ul 10 starting planets and try to set them furthest from me...and see if I could get big enough, fast enough before they starting throwing dreadnoughts around. And give them a few weak opponents to munch on in the meantime and one fairly large size "buffer" empire for us both to absorb on our way to our fateful meeting.

[NightReaper]

Another thing that would be nice to have is a list of those planets that are operating an orbital shipyard. This could be given a column in the spreadsheet option of the list of planets under the economic button. Does anyone know for sure how many factories you have to have before you can build an orbital shipyard? I thought it was 4, but I have several planets that only have 3 and they have built a shipyard. (Maybe the shipyard counts as a factory building??

[eidolad]

Another thing that would be nice to have is a list of those planets that are operating an orbital shipyard. This could be given a column in the spreadsheet option of the list of planets under the economic button. Does anyone know for sure how many factories you have to have before you can build an orbital shipyard? I thought it was 4, but I have several planets that only have 3 and they have built a shipyard. (Maybe the shipyard counts as a factory building??

Totally agree that a shipyard list would be useful...especially when there are pirates running around unchecked and trashing orbital infrastructure.

[Firefox440]

Does anyone know for sure how many factories you have to have before you can build an orbital shipyard?

The exact number is 3. But you need free production positions for the shipyard.

[TheHubby]

I'll chime in on some sort of settings for habitable planets. Every game I've played so far habitable planets are WAAAY to far from my starting system, with tons of uncolonizable worlds between them. And while my starting scout and colonizer can reach them, my combat capable ships cannot, so I have systems dotted around the area with no defenses. Basically, I end up with 4-5 little pockets of my empire with no way to join it all up until I can build domes.

[Firefox440]

I'll chime in on some sort of settings for habitable planets. Every game I've played so far habitable planets are WAAAY to far from my starting system, with tons of uncolonizable worlds between them. And while my starting scout and colonizer can reach them, my combat capable ships cannot, .

Probably the game would need more type of cells for space units. If there was a cell for the fuel, you can increase it without increase the space for other things.

However, everybody can edit fuel pods or the cells. At my SW mod by example, units can add a lot of fuel pods and other systems but........you are limited by things as the energy. Other point is how some systems need a lot more of cells and they can be added only at some special units.

[freifrei]

I'll chime in on some sort of settings for habitable planets. Every game I've played so far habitable planets are WAAAY to far from my starting system, with tons of uncolonizable worlds between them. And while my starting scout and colonizer can reach them, my combat capable ships cannot, so I have systems dotted around the area with no defenses. Basically, I end up with 4-5 little pockets of my empire with no way to join it all up until I can build domes.

I'm using corvette carriers with 12k fuel early on with Erians, since their corvette is so awesome, but generally its much cheaper to build 5-6k fuelbay combat ships and add tankers with refueling module (without Stellar Energy Convertor, too heavy and powerhungry to keep up).
They are very useful later on for invasions as well.

The only thing you really need to pay attention to is their speed, avoid making them slower than your slowest combat ship.
Its advised to separate tankers from combat capable ships before sending them into battle - AI loves sending bombers upon your defenseless freighters' asses first.

Later on I often make tankers with cluster MIRVs, anti missile traps and shields to protect them from fighters - they have plenty of space for both.
Combat ships need only 3 fuel tanks this way, making them way easier to design.

[eidolad]

I'm not sure I agree that we need to suggest changes with earthlike colony chance-to-appear etc. Or the wisdom of making early game ships with 10K+ range each. My early "long range carrier design" could only host a piddling 10 fighters each. Five carriers and fifty fighters? I sent them against two pirate corvettes and their 80 fighters and actually managed to lose. So IMHO, 10K plus range carriers are not safe enough against the average number of fighters that are hosted by those roaming pirate groups. Or maybe I need to play with other race design ship layouts than the humans...

Edit: hmm I should check out the Erians as suggested by freifrei.

Edit: And I should have read Nomada_Firefox's update a bit more closely: in review: actually I can see your point regarding a "specialized fuel cell thingie". Perhaps one that has a "cool-down rate before recharging fuel"? I.e. the ship could sacrifice a big chunk of space and have that range needed sometimes in the early game...but balanced to NOT be a huge fuel-radius all-the-time.

I like the devs balancing of the fuel/ship range for early colonization.

I have found no pattern in how the good early planets appear in relation to my homeworld. The map randomizer appears to make Earthlike colonies either right next door, far away, somewhere in between,etc. ...I've had two Earthlike beauties in adjacent sectors...and in another game I've had none within 8 jumps.

Either way, I find defending key planets easy to do if you have the time/luck to do so:

a. say I settle a juicy earthlike that is six jumps away. Oh great there is a pirate fleet lurking nearby as well as a rival civilization growing towards this new colony of mine.

b. I start building up 5K range combat ships (usually carriers) and their fighters at the homeworld. Say a group of five carriers to carry 100 fighters. No way this group can reach the colony.

c. Depending on the developing situation, I either:

- feel confident I have the time to research the refuelling tech to build refueller ships to accompany the carriers to give them the range to refuel/reach the colony.

- or: set the colony to balanced or industrial and BUILD fighters asap. The early game defense force of choice appears to be a fairly large cloud of fighters, from my early games. Reset the colony after the fighters are built.

d. I have yet to NOT be able to settle enough desert/frozen type planets to reach any colonies in the beginning of the "middle game".


Now if I can just figure out what the hell that AI starbase mounted that shredded my 200-strong fighter group in this current mid-game...MIRV missile launchers? Ramping up the anti-missle capability of my interceptor designs and will retry. Or maybe I need to zoom in and watch the next attack more closely...