Zanotirn
Posts: 113
Joined: 3/12/2021
Status: offline
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I won't go into significant details in this post since they're discussed in many other threads, but I realized that there is one overarching point behind a large number of the things I'd like to see in SE.
In my opinion it's a solid wargame (obviously, considering creator's experience), however wargames are a niche product in a rather crowded market. I believe SE's two primary more mainstream drawing points are a) wider 4x elements (considering 4x are much more mainstream than they used to be) and b) the idea of detailed customization of a realistic alien planet in which you the game takes place. I can't think of many other games that did the latter. Those that do have alien planets tend to have a specific one as the setting, like SMAC or Gladius; AoW Planetfall has several specific types but not detailed customization beyond that. At the same time I feel that customization in SE, while it goes somewhat beyond competition, is still underdeveloped. As a few broad example, while temperature effect on humans technically exists, it's largely placeholder in that it pretty much never actually comes into play. Similarly the potential nuances of local hazards are negated by envirosuits. The effect of gravity on troops (other than airplanes) is not implemented, and it could also be possible to implement more effects of atmospheric composition (presence of oxidizer for engines, corrosive effect, etc.)
Expanding the effect of planets' characteristics on gameplay is I believe one of the best ways to increase SE's appeal. At the moment gameplay differs mainly with the scarcity or abundance of resources in the setup (water, fuel, people, etc.), as well as presence of obstacle terrain. However making it so planet's gravity, hazards, etc. would significantly change the combat dynamics would greatly enhance replayability - there's potential there to make e.g. low-gravity planet play very differently from a regular one, and further differentiate such a planet requiring heavy infantry enviroprotection (dominated by huge vehicles) vs a planet where vehicles are hindered by rough terrain or lack of oxidizer (which is dominated by heavy infantry from the start), and even further significantly differentiate these from a planet which is unfriendly to all types of units, where war is a much slower and more expensive undertaking. Secondly, I believe that this would allow the game to fully realize its appeal to "strategy on an alien world" fantasy to the extent that no other current game would approach - even looking at SE's reviews, the idea is clearly appealing to many.
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