I usually don't post stuff..I just read and research. And I have know idea about how to submit it or where to put it. But some ideas popped into my head and I think that they would greatly improve on the gameplay experience. Now maybe these ideas have already been brought up.
These sortof go along with the whole mini-ex pack for defense:
1. Being able to setup a constant patrol system. Where you can select your ships and set waypoints and behavior and let them go in a continuous loop.
2. Being able to name your fleets..squads..whatever you want to call them. ie grouping some frigates together and naming them Sector 4 Defense fleet or Intercept Fleet. This would improve organization and swiftness in issuing move/attack orders 10 fold.
This next idea would get rid of that annoying : Say goodbye to (Planet) whatever message..it gets old
3.Having a system in place that when (x) amount of hostile forces enter into a planets gravity well. Not 1 or 2 ships..the system setup like that would be more annoying than anything..But say it had a customized field where you put in how many ships would set the system off or just make it like a higher number 15 or so. A option box pops up asking if you would like to send a force to intercept them. And if yes. It populates your grouped fleets so that you can select which fleets to send out. Say you have a planet with min. defenses..and your patroling defense force past through the planet some time ago. and then a group of 15 hostile ships jumps in. The alarm goes off and the box pops up..You click yes and then it Zooms out to show you the planet system and where the alarm is coming from and when you put your cursor over 1 of your fleets it highlights where that fleet is and then you can select which fleet to move. Once that is taken care of. It zooms back to where you were. And you don't have to worry as much knowing that situation is being handled.
Also having this system for assault fleets. You send a fleet to attack a defensless planet. Then you go off to the other side of the map to deal with something else..then a huge hostile force jumps in and starts wailing on your fleet and battle starts to sway. The system would go off.. And then you would be sending a Reinforcement fleet.
I know this is somewhat already happening in the game. But its more of the user doing all the work.
And ofcourse this system would be in the options to turn off..because some people might not want it...Its always good to have something and if a player doesn't want to use it..they're not forced to.
Comments?
wow, GREAT ideas. i did some things like this myself, but it was all jerry-rigged, manual and not entirely effecient.
so, on your particular points:
1) constant patrol system has come up before a few times, i dont know if the Devs are doing anything about it, but it really wouldnt be too hard to implement, its not like they are re-inventing the wheel, so hopefully we'll see something in a patch or next X-pack.
2) i LOVE this idea. two things i can see, if you want vocal cues, you would need to make a selection from a certain number of pre-recorded options, for instance, you could call a fleet 1st defense fleet, but not Bobs chilli chuggers defense fleet, because obviously there is no way for Stardock to have vocal cues for everything. on the other hand. if its just a text popup, then no problem.
on this note, i would like there to be some arbitrary numbers attached to fleet sizes and having according audio cues. for instance, when a scout ship is under attack, the voice goes, OUR FLEET IS UNDER ATTACK! i consider a fleet a grouping of ships 1) assigned as a fleet and 2) with enough numbers of ships to be considered a fleet. idn if that makes sense, heres an example.
1-2 ships = Scouting party, even if the ships are heavy cruisers or so.
2-5 = Recon group
5-10 = Task Force
10-20 = Strike Force
20-40 = Minor Fleet
40-60 = Major Fleet
60 upwards = Admiral Fleet
maybe we re-name them etc. these are just place holder names... also, any ship groupings with a capital ship could be called Commanded <fleet designtion>
i.e. 2-5 ships is a recon group, while 2-5 ships with a Capital ships is a Commanded Recon Group, purpose being you can tell if you real fleet is under attack or just a fleet grouping of seige frigates.
this way i dont freak out when i hear my fleet is under attack and its just a scout somewhere dying out. i would also like audio cues for all the above designations, rather than the current, rather abstract and undetailed 'our fleet is under attack'
the same should go for incoming fleets. 'Enemy forces are inbound!' could be a scout, or it could be a super fleet. current information is rather lacking.
i think there is some functionality for this already, ive seen screen popups show a taskforce near Naeve is under attack. so making audio cues shouldnt be too much of a stretch.
back on track, point 3) i like this idea, however the popup thing is already catered for in the info boxes at the bottom left of the screen. that said, i run the game on 1920x1200 resolution, so the info boxes and on screen text messages are really easy for me to miss, especially if im zoomed in at the time. perhaps something more visible to be sort of like a popup box, but staying within current framework
you suggested the game asking if you want to send a nearby fleet... i think thats a little too automated and alot of people wouldnt go for it. it really stops defense being the responsibility of the player, because, by the same coin, you could simply designate a certain fleet as defense and whenever a fleet of more than 15 ships enters a system the game automatically re-routes the defense fleet to that system and you may never know. as it is now, a tricky commander will send a scout or even a Task or Strike force into a planet to distract you from a major or admiral fleet jumping in somwhere else. its happened to me a few times, you feel really silly. but if you have a computer running defense for you you could pretty much set all fleets to defense and go have a shower while your empire racks up credits and your caps rack up exp...
same thing for assaulting fleets, it relieves you of alot of responsibility, and makes the game a too easy/boring, because a computer is doing all the fleet management for you.
that said, i like the ideas of more detailed info when ships are moving to your systems or your ships are under attack. i also like the idea of naming your fleets etc.
really good ideas, though it could be a bit much for a patch, we might have to wait till X-pack 2 or even 3 if the devs dont think it fits with diplomacy
Nice ideas.
More tactical options would be very good. Patrol, search and destroy etc. would add a new depth to this game.
More in depth info would be great. I would also like for the AIs to have better taunts and threats. Something like this:
If you attack a Vasari planet and lose, Jisura Nomads will say
"you seem to enjoy spilling your blood in this part of the galaxy . . . so do I.
However if you attack KorSul Armada the AI will have a different and unique taunt or comeback.
Why cant you TEC bastards leave us alone, all we were trying to do was run away from Chuck Norris!!!
Patrol would be nice but it could partially achieved now by setting souts to explore but the problem is that it will also patrol others and enemies
If we don't get the AI updates in the next game update, I don't mind getting it in the next additons to game, but to be honest, we shouldn't have to pay for better AI
LOL
I had in mind that each AI has its own unique taunts and qoutes to make you feel that you're interacting with the AI more. I think that it would add a new level of depth to the Diplomacy side of things.
However, AI faction taunts should not be corny like Advent saying "we're heeeeere!" (as in the little girl from Poltergiest) . . . Actually thats not a bad idea is it?
Currently "I hope you like the smell of rockets in the morning" is old and its copied from Apocalypse Now. IronClad can do better!
Maybe the way I worded it was incorrect. Yes, I understand the reply you wrote in connection with the events bar in the lower corner and how a player can miss info. Thats why I suggested that it be a screen centered popup window. "Hostile Forces have entered orbit around Planet _______" Would you like to send forces to intercept them? Here would be 2 boxes Yes or No.......If you click yes....It displays your fleets for you to select which to send. More than 1 fleet may be chosen. Once you've selected which fleet(s) to send. You would then click a "Issue Orders" button. This system would also re-act with Reinforcements......Now as stated before, It would have the options of disabling both systems or 1. Maybe you want Defense but not Reinforcement enabled.
I like the idea of voice commands..But that would take some serious programing for voice recognition and implementation into the game.
I love these ideas! I have something to add for number 3. How about when a fleet jumps towards your planet, the game tells you how many are coming.
Awesome suggestion.......Which way should it be?
(##) Hostile Ships have entered orbit around Planet _______
A Hostile Force of (##) Ships have entered orbit around Planet _______
or should it also include a breakdown of the types of ships like when you highlight a planet?
The better these idea's are hammered out and refined. The better we have a chance at getting these idea's seriously looked at by some Devs.
The alerts are kinda useless. You hear a dramatic "our planet is under seige!" but when you get there, there's one tiddly ship firing peanuts at an extractor.
no no no, i wasnt saying we need to have voice commands, i was saying i want the game to vocally 'say' "there is a strike force inbound", or, "our colony ship is under attack" etc etc. i wasnt talking about the player saying, send fleet X to planet Y, i agree thats way too hard.
so, o your other points, im simply pointing out that there is a current framework for info to be displayed for you, im also saying the current system leaves much to be desired. personally, i think a pop-up in the center of the screen would be distracting, perhaps having the info box say you have incoming bad guys and letting you go to another window to respond, much like the way pirate bidding was done before the update.
however, i also think that, in the current style of the game, the computer asking you which fleet would you like to send seems really superfluous, after all, you have all your fleets right there in your empire window, and im sure most people also number their fleets (i.e. you press number one on your keyboard and it selscts a fleet) meaning this pop-up window asking for orders is rather, as i said, superfluous, and really stops becoming RTS and more TBS or even a bit like pokemon cards (i.e. he will use this card, what are you going to do to reply, you will do that? okay boss, ill do that during our next turn)
personally, i wont use your system of ordering fleets around using a popup window. id much rather relevant, detailed info telling me how many ships are coming my way, and then letting me deal with it in my own time. i mean, if 20 or even 30 ships come into one of my highly fortified grav wells, im not that fussed, and i dont need a pop-up window asking me what to do, especially if im in the middle of a pitched battle elsewhere, or fervently fortifying a planet to repel an invasion.
long story short, why would you want a convoluted popup system when you can just as easily (or even more easily) select fleets and send them on their way, the time it takes to select each individual fleet is really offset by how much time it takes them to turn around, charge their engines and get to your planet.
i also dont like the reinforcement idea a whole lot, its very complicated to try to figure out what kinda info you would want to be displayed, and even more so than defense, if you are micro-ing for your life, you might like a popup to tell you your other fleet is getting nailed, or it could just be very irritating. in any case, you want to make it easier for the attacking fleet to do its job, its not supposed to be easy, it should be a real decision to stand of a bit longer or move in and be prepared to take losses. to be honest, if you cant monitor your fleets close enough to tell when ones going to get nailed, you should multi-task less
like i said before, alot of your ideas are really good! just these too sound alot like removing the responsibility from the player and simply pressing buttons to make things go boom while the computer does all the work. next thing will be saying, right, now, if mor ethan this many ships enters, run, i not, attack, if there are fewer than this many ships, start attacking structures or planets, if the repair bay in the area is making destroying ships too hard, take that out. if a phase stabiliser is bringing in more and more ships, or a nano-weapon jammer is too annoying, take that out. i mean, you can send in a fleet to a highly fortified world, go away and have lunch, come back and have won. simply because the computer fought for you. not my idea of fun, yes, you said it can be shut off, but then if the other player has it turned on, then im just fighting AI, and, due to the human input, possibly losing because AI can think and react faster than humans, and the priority target info given by the human makes the AI much more effecient.
i realise none of this ws in your original idea, im just saying if we start on this path then thats where it COULD lead, and thats not what im interested in, sorry.
no offense, i realise i my sound a bit hostile, sorry, no hostility intended, just trying to get my point across
also, i would love to know how many ships are coming, except i think it may be difficult. sometimes fleets dont always jump together, and sometimes 2 fleets will jump at the same time or right after the other and it may screw things up a bit. i was sorta hoping to get around that with arbitrary number assignment, but ultimately, if Ironclad could get around those issues, yeah exact numbers would be great.
What?
I suggested that the various AIs in the game should be more in depth and unique. Rather then simply have different portraits, they should have unique taunts etc.
I suggested as a possible new AI qoute: "You seem to enjoy spilling your blood in this part of the galaxy . . . so do I"
I also said that if new attack KorSul Armada, then the AI will have its own unique taunt, hence the Chuck Norris joke.
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