I'm sure there is a post somewhere, but the one I found was related to 7DS. I'm starting this thread to get some ideas out for the new expansion, Rebellion.For anyone who asks, the confirmed features are as follows:
New features of Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion include:
I'll put up a tally of the most commonly requested features up once I get some votes.And, no, there will not be a campaign, so don't bother asking.Thanks.
To start, I'll put up my own little wish list for tweaks I'd like to see.
1. An overhaul of the Diplomatic Tech tree and system. The devs have been looking into this for the 1.3 patch, and it looks to be a step in the right direction. For me, diplomacy is only useful insofar as I can use it to hold an opponent at bay for awhile with a cease fire and milk him for a trade agreement. The effort it takes for me to send out envoys and research the higher tech in the tree just hasn't seemed as attractive to me as the other three (tech trees). I would like to have the same "BOOYAH" feeling once I finish my Diplomatic research as I do when I finally get that Mass Trancendence or Kostura Cannon. Finishing the Diplomacy Tree just feels meh to me. To this end, I would like to see the higher end pacts (15 Relations Points or better) beefed up a bit, or perhaps more options to manipulate opponents. (Totally open to ideas on this). 2. The ability to give ships between factions as rewards for completing missions. I realize that there are issues here with this, but if there is the ability to mod-in capturable capital ships, and the Advent can obviously already take over frigates and cruisers, why can't we make it so we can trade ships? This seems viable, especially if two groups already share technology, and considering the Rebel factions will be using others technology.
3. More types of planets and space anomalies. I've seen some amazing work done out there by various modding teams, so I KNOW the guys here can do it as well! 4. Please make it so that re-selecting a fleet with new ships doesn't make a random ship the "Flagship." Is there a way to always have the highest-level capital ship be the flagship? About 70% of the time I add new forces to my fleet and reselect them with the "Make Fleet" option, a random frigate or cruiser is made the Flagship over my level 10 beauty. 5. Make scuttling free up the space in logistics/tacticals so you can queue something to be built after it is finished scuttling. 6. Thank you to all the hard work done by the dedicated programmers and testers at Ironclad and Stardock!
If I could ask for just one thing in Rebellion, and one thing only:
Persistent particle trail effects.
I hate the fact that a missile smoke trail or any other non-attached emitter will vanish suddenly when the travel effect stops emitting. (when it hits its target.)
Add another modifier that designates whether or not an emitted texture continues to live after the emitter is gone.
That's a good point, Krdax. Been bugging me too. Wouldn't changing that be a bit memory intensive, though?
No, it really wouldn't.
The only way that it would become memory intensive would be if the emitters were set to stay for an insane amount of time, so that the persistent textures would float there for a while.
Effects from Bailknight Graphics Mod should be included in vanilla Sins.
I really appreciate what Bailknight did for the effects as they are spectacular, but somehow they don't fit in with my view of SINS. I realize that puts me in the minority, but some bits seem out of place. For example, a trade port explodes jsut as much as a Vasari capital ship, and in the exact same way. I think that updating the graphics will be intriguing though. I would like to see some updated ship designs. After all, I'm pretty sure you're not going to be using the same ships after 40 years of interstellar war.
In addition to a lot of the suggestions on this thread, I would like some expanded storyline with regard to the menace from which the Vasari are fleeing. I know that this is probably not in the scope of Rebellion, but could there not be a way to fill in some of the knowledge gap? Maybe a version, eventually, in which the three factions unite to battle it out with the unknown menace? At the least, couldn't there be some "leaked" or "intercepted" communiques between Vasari forces which reveal more about the threat? Maybe the Rebel Vasari could decide to release the information as a gesture of goodwill (Diplomacy feature) to the other factions?
I'm with flannicus90 on the anomalies; how about a research vessel that can research/explore them? Maybe an upgradeable tech for the Arcova and its equivalents?
Can't wait for Rebellion to hit disk! - Shorter production time to disk would be nice, if possible. I never download games from the Internet.
I'm also with him on the ship designs; maybe some tougher looking vessels? The Vasari are already using warships, and, given their extensive history of warfare, their ship designs will probably be satisfactory with only minor tweaks. However, the TEC and Advent are relatively new to interstellar war and their ships, especially the TEC could undergo some extensive modifications. Surely, after forty years, the Kol is not the only warship being produced by the TEC while everything else continues to be derived from freighters? Surely at least some if not all of the TEC ships could be formalized into complete combat designs? Their properties need not change; just their hull designs. The only thing I ask is that the Sova and Akkan be left alone; they look way cool already!
I take it you're a TEC player, eh, KerrdogJ? I like your ideas, especially concerning the TEC's ships. However, I don't think the devs will go for updating just one race. If that were the case, they would probably scrap the idea of making new ships instead of just doing it for the TEC. Very good points, though. With the new Capital Ship class, I think there will be much more options. Unlike some, I don't think that it will be a counter to the Titan-Class capitals. Seems to me the game wouldn't scale well in that case.What do you mean by "researching" the anomalies? It sounds intriguing, but I'm curious about the clarification.You know what just struck me? I totally think mines should be beefed up a bit. As is, only the Vasari have a truly viable use for them, in conjunction with the ability that shuts down enemy ships (Enforcer, I think?). I loved the idea of mines along with Starbases back when Entrenchment came out, but since then, they just seem weak. Especially with the Titans on the way, I think mines could use a bit more love.
Stilakus Subverter, Teleport Disable.
Mines should be removed entirely. They are really there just for kicks and serve no real purpose.
I think its fun to use them on AI, but beyond that, I would have to agree with you.My gut says that the devs might do something more with them, even if it is just giving them some "oomph." They've done a pretty good job at balance, I think, and I believe mines still have a role yet to play.
Oh yeah! I love the TEC! I've always been partial to humans in RTS games (they taste like chicken), and the TEC suits my favored style of playing. I'm big on economics; grow the economy and then grow the fleet. Plus, I just think that the TEC ships are cooler.
You're probably right concerning the ship upgrades; across-the-faction changes won't hurt my feelings at all.
I agree; I wouldn't want capital ships with the ability to annihilate Titans. Let the Titans duke it out between themselves and large fleets. Having anti-Titanships would be like having Dgrovs; way too easy!
My understanding is that Sins is related, somehow, to the Galactic Civilizationsseries (somebody please correct me if I am wrong). In the series, there are anomalies scattered throughout the maps, such as space junk, mini-wormholes, derelict ships, small asteroids, etc. Research vessels can explore them to find upgrades and bonuses. Normally it's all stuff that will upgrade the economy, population growth, military, defense, hit points, research, etc.. etc., etc. by a couple of percentage points, but sometimes you can find a damaged ship that can be fixed and fielded alongside your forces while at other times you might accidentally awaken space monsters that can ravage small to mid-sized ships. I'm not recommending anything on that same scale - it would require an entire reworking of Sins, and would be to similar to GalCiv - however, a few anomalies that could bestow one times resource or research boosts, ships, or artifacts might be a fun way to add a bit more variety to the game. What's more, a few nasty space creatures might prove to be an interesting way to make the game more challenging.
I'm with you on mines! As a one-time use, they scarcely justify their cost, and are difficult to obtain early in the game when they are most needed. As much as I would like to see them "beefed up," it may be best to simply reduce their price and make them more accessible early in the game, so that player defenses can be bolstered more effectively. A new tech that could be researched later in the game, for each faction, could take care of boosting their damage ratings considerably, so that the upgraded, more costly mines can be balanced by a stronger, healthier economy. What's more, the TEC could use a special mine technology, since their mines are truly static. Perhaps they could be given a researchable tech that would allow their mines to home slightly. Maybe a better idea is to expand the range of the mines or to give them an ability to jam enemy missiles. Thus, mine fields would become safety nets, in a manner of speaking, that would negate the advantages of long-range ships and anti-structure vessels. The Advent mines are pretty nice as they are, although they could stand some more power. Perhaps a tech for them which boosts damage? As with the TEC, I would like to see their mines decreased slightly in cost to allow them to be used more effectively early in the game. A tech that boosts the speed of their homing mines and/or makes them more difficult for anti-fighter ships to destroy might also be a good idea. I was also thinking that psionic nodes might prove a nice tech; they could be deployed by the homing mines and would allow the Unity to channel its thought through them in a mental attack upon ships that venture too close. The ships could then be trapped within the psionic nets, however, the nets would not self-destruct. Instead, they would act as mini platforms that were easily destructible. They would, in essence, be a hindrance to fleet movement, would cost as much as a mine, but would not possess the same powers as a static defense turret or hangar. For the Vasari, I was thinking that a speed upgrade would be nice for the Minelayer, so that it could move more quickly. Also, in addition to the attack upgrade tech, a new tech that would give them a third kind of deployable weapon might be nice. How about deployable sensor nodes? It has been sometime since I played as the Vasari (so please, someone, correct me if I am wrong), but I do not recall the Vasari as possessing of a lingering scout presence like the TEC's remote sensor or the Advent's Lingering Presence. Perhaps a cloaked field of sensor nodes, detectable only by scout ships, would allow the Vasari a nice way to monitor phase lanes leading to their planets. We know that they have the tech because it is mentioned in their backstory; now is simply the time to pick it up off the shelf and dust if off!
The TEC and Advent could get some probes similar to probe droids from Star Wars which would be far more expendable than Arcova's or Seekers. The probes would not be cloaked, but could move quickly and provide intel into the movements of enemy fleets. This may, however, be redundant upon consideration of the scout ships already available and their unique abilities.
One last thought on mines: maybe a homing mine for each faction that affixes itself to the hull of an enemy ship and acts as a remote sensor for a limited amount of time. This could provide a lovely source of intel with regard to enemy fleet movements, and could allow a player to track fleets.
Grrrrr...mines are a great concept if they are done right. Just a few ion a grav well but each having an area effect/range with abilities.
Don't take stuff out--refine what's in and add things.
Making mines as they presently are be cheap an easy is a performance issue--they need to be specialty weapons with logistics costs just like ships and function should be a variable of quality, not quantity.
Ion mines...hmm...now there's an idea. Would be handy against ship shielding...
You took his misspelling as an idea. WIN!
ion...a...grav...
in...a...grav??? Duh!
Wellllllllll...I suppose that the anti-shield mines would still be a good idea, even if it was spawned by the misunderstanding of a typo...
That's why I said WIN!
Unfortunately, it would only really work as an Advent-deterrent mine. TEC and Vasari can both typically survive without shields.
The poor Advent is hardly playable in ICO as it is....
Very much looking forward to this, one thing I would like to see would be planetary moon(s). Harvesting resources from asteroids is just fine, but I'd love to see like a rare/uncommon chance for a planet to have a moon that you can harvest from in the same fashion as an asteroid. Maybe a twist would be that a moon harvests both metal and crystal but half the rate of a full metal asteroid. Like harvesting 1 metal and 1 crystal instead of 2 metal. Would make each planet a little more personal, just like the bonuses, but more visual.
On the topic of mines, TEC needs a minelayer. Both advent and vasari can place mines in most neutrals, but TEC are screwed if they wanna try to lock down a neutral or star.
And back up towards the beginning where someone mentioned trading ships, I'd like to see something similar. Like, a fleet command that will allow the person you choose to issue orders to any ship in the fleet you activated it in. You would be able to disable this at any time, but this would allow someone to quickly re-inforse an ally without taking too much away from their role on a team game.
-Twilight Storm
For point number 4, it's not random, you can choose which ship you want to make the flagship.
He means that when you select a group of ships, it randomly selects one as the dominant ship, and making a fleet makes that ship the flagship. In order to make the lead cap ship the flagship you have to Shift+Click the dominant ship twice, then make the fleet. What he's asking is to make the highest level cap ship the dominant ship automatically when selecting a group of ships with the mouse before they are a fleet. I agree with this idea, since cap ships require the most micro and therefore should be what shows up on top when you select a fleet.
It's detail, not size, now on the other hand, the larger the texture in a particle effect, the more taxing it is.
@Twilight StormSo basically "turn on" a function for a group of ships that allows your teammates to control them?I really like the idea but I see one issue: wouldn't this sort of nullify both Ship and Planet Vision? You can use the ships your friend lets you, but this would also mean you have to be able to see those ships and (presumably) where they are currently located.
It wouldn't nulify it, more than likely you're gonna have both those pacts anyway before this. And if not, your gonna know that the owner of those ships is going to be able to see them. No way they're gonna just say "Hey, here's some ships, don't tell me what you do with them."
Although I do see one possible exploit. Giving control of a fleet to someone, waiting till the moment they are weakest, and attacking them from within their empire. Obviously, this is more of a locked teams ability, but still, I'd like to see it. (Make an option to turn it off before starting a game would be a good Idea if a lot of people hate it.)
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