zgrssd
Posts: 3385
Joined: 6/9/2020 Status: offline
|
I admit it is wierd to have a suggestion about a game that is still 1 month from release, while I do not even have the Streamer or Beta versions. But given that DW2 is in large parts DW1, a lot of the old issues still apply. So in a large part these are "things that I noticed in DW1 that I think have not been added by the general DW2 rework." And this time it will not even be a total nightmare to add any of those I originally planned one big Thread, but thought splitting them up is better. This threads Topic: Ship Design(s/er), Wrecks, Boarding Support Component Counters We have some support components, where only 1 is needed. Like the Medical Bay (I am guessing you did not change that). And some where ideally we need Y amount. Reactors. Solar Panels. Boarding pods on troop transports It would be cool if any information about this would be displayed when hovering over a component. So I do not end up adding a 2nd Medical Bay or a unessesary 5th Solar Panel by accident. Limited rebuilding of wrecks I originally thought this up for the Planet killer, but Erik was going to change that one anyway (partriculary the anti-ship power of the maingun would drop). But here goes anyway: It would be cool if which compoents we can repair depends on how damaged the component is and how close we are in tech. With the remaing stuff we can either: leave the damaged one in replace it with a working, lower tech one we have. As a alternative option, allow us to scrap wrecks for technolgy directly, using construction ships. Design/Retrofit Preferences When reseaching Tech - especially when captured ships are concerned - it can mater which Hyperdrive and Reactor you end up with during retrofits. In part to use Racial specialities, but also to have uniform FTL Speed and range across the fleet. I ended up with a fleet being slowed down by a ship with a "Superior" Hyperdrive one to many times. Also the Autodesigner could use those preferences. It would be cool if there was some preference that both the auto-designer and the retrofitting of captured ships use. Component lines to consider (incomplete): - Reactor - Hyperdrive - Shields - Weapon Basetype (Blater or Railgun) - Weapon Subtypes (Long range or high power Blaster/Railgun) As long as the current component is better in all/most properties, it can be kept. But otherweise it should propably be replaced so the ship is more uniform (with the usuall benefit for disecting technology). Visual Tech Advantage Indicators/More Detailed Retire Rules In DW1 I had (unknowingly) taken over close to 100 Ship form aliens. That were just flying around in my imperium on patrol. Then I realized some of them had T2 Phaser (while I lacked even T1 ones). So I stated retiring them at a spaceport. Then I ended up recycling every captured ship whose size I could build. My technology jumped ahead Literal. Decades. Just from a few dozen Frigates, Escorts and Destroyers. I had decades worth of tech advantages in my empire and no idea about it! So a indicator for "gives you tech progress if recycled" would be realy, realy helpfull. As I see it ther are two levels of technological advantage: - Superior Components. This is the lesser Level. If that is all it has, this ship should propably be recycled for technological progress - Superior Hull Size. As long as the ship has that advantage, you propably want to keep it around. Even if the weapons are "only" contemporary, the bigger hull maters a lot for military power. It is more survivable and fuel efficient. So, it would be cool if Ships could be marked for Technological Advantage: One (the stronger) for Bigger Size then you can build. So I know to put them in my Primary assault fleet. The other (weaker) just for having advanced technology of any kind - so I know to recycle them. Such markers should propably only be displayed when selecting the ship directly or seeing it in the Ship Lists, not general selections. Naturally the Automatic retiring rule should also based on that distinction, no longer combining "Ship Size or Technology" into one setting. The distinction could also be useable in the ship list filters. And finally the visual indication could also apply in the component list itself, to quickly tell me "that one part is superior". If you want to be realy adventourous, you could even work this into the Technology Tree. Showing "X ships in your Empire have potential technology Bonuses to this thing". Alternate Tech Progression from advanced Ships Currently we get tech progression from retring ships only. And only large boost for one of the advanced techs in said ship It would be cool if: - just having working examples of a tech already provides a limited technology bonus. Something like 0.1% Progress per Year, per existing part (may need modification based on how inherently spamable a part is). - Alterantively, you could roll tech progress for each part that is recycled or replaced during retrofit. This would be more granular and work better with retrofit preferences. - Bases could also be recycled using a construction ship, to get your hands on any advanced technology they hold Visual Turret Split Sometimes you will only have the weight left to put in one weapon in a pair of slots, but having guns visible in both slots looks better. Galactic Civilisations 3 had a ship designer had two option to deal with "having dual guns": - placing two actuall weapons. Space and resources used for each one - placing one weapon, but having the visuals mirrored It would be if you could copy that later part. If you got paired slots with only one carrying a weapon, but could visually carry the weapon - but it still fires like you have only one component of the type. Auto-Update and Auto-Design In the Designer, please seperate Auto-Updating of components (T1 for T2 Crew Quarters) and Auto Designing (the Designer makes the design from scratch) seperate settings. Just becaue I make a manual design, does not mean I do not want automatic upgrades. In fact, the situation is very much the opposite. It could even throw out clearly unessesary components (like excess Reactors or Crew Quarters), but maybe leave that as a additional subsetting (Auto-Update: Yes/No/Yes and throw out excess/Yes, but mind resurces). Obsolete - declare retrofit target Obsolete ships propably should know what to upgrade too. It would be cool if when declaring ships obsolete, we could decide a existing model to retrofit all models into. Letting all remaining ship join the more important design line in due time. With regular upgrades this is easy - target is the "next in line". But for fringe cases this would mater. Station design I think stations are designed like Ships - enough reactors to cover all consumers, then Solar panels to cover static use. It would be cool if they are designed the other way around: Enough Solar Panels to cover all uses, then enough reactors to cover static use (replacing some solar panels if nessesary). Maybe introduce a much bigger Solar Array for stations too, so they have a easier time being powered? Stations tend to be more stationary in systems then ships, so they can get a lot more power from solar panels. However a perculiar issue of Stations is that they might be in a Ssytem with Sun or one without. So they might run 100% from Solar Power or may have to run 100% of Reactors. But having multiple designs would be annoying as heck. Maybe add a "Station Power Module" that can act as Solar panel and/or reactor, depending on the situation? Let's just asume the construction crew put in more Solar Arrays or Reactor space depending on how things are at the actuall deployment positon. Combat should Produce wrecks It is pretty odd that we can find wrecks in space, yet our combat never produces a single wreck? It would be cool if that changes. Say if a ship has no working or no powered crew components for a while, it becomes a neutral wreck? That way even Ion Weapons and Ion Storms could kill. External Components According to Erik, "External" Slots currently are only there for drawing the model. With only Engines and Weapons being always external. It would be cool if those slots actually matered. Especially for defenses. A external Slot could double the production, but also mean there is a chance for shots to damage that component without needing to go through all defenses. Ships could looe external Ship generators, before shields are depleted. And any external components before Armor is depleted. Spinal Slot It would be cool if there were spinal slots. Similar to Engines, there could even be more Weapon Slots then you can effectively use. The goal of a "Spinal" slot is to carry weapons that are 2-3 size categories to large for ship. If you look at any weapon and compare them to a ship size, there will be: - Ships that can carry them in 360° turrets - Ships that can carry them in 180° turrets - Ships that can carry very few in 90° frontal mounts - Ships that can carry 1 in 15-45° Spinal Mounts Fleet Union Design Whenever we design ships, we may designs them with a unified fleet design in mind. Stats we want to be similar across such a Fleet: - Hyperdrive Speed - STL Speed - Total Range - Weapon Ranges or types - Presence or Absence of specific resources being used It would be cool if the Designer could help with that Boarding It would be cool if: - Troops would act as boarding defense. As far as I know a Invasion Transport with a dozen Infantry Units is as easy to take over as a empty one - Boarding pods could be fired at allied ships that are being overrun, to bolster the boarding defense. Ideally automatically. - Boarding Torpedoes. Either as a Upgrade over the pods, a Lategame Weapon or a special Racial Weapons. Large. Spamable. And full of hurt. Might barely have enough Soldiers to deal damage to components too, for balance - Boarding Shuttles. Like torpedoes, but lower tech and requires a Hangar Slot - there was some way to select which Species would be used for boarding pods (if that makes any differnce)
< Message edited by zgrssd -- 2/10/2022 6:48:48 AM >
|