I think the occupation victory was a good idea in Sins 1 but also that it could be more balanced if it wasn't just one victory planet but a handful, scattered around the centre of the map. The blue print I have in mind here is Age of Wonders III's seals victory which had a few elements to make it exciting:
One of the consequences of this design was that it mitigated end-game drag. A strong player could push for control of enough seals and force weaker players to go all-in to contest those seals. It could still take a few turns to finish but tended to be more tense than in the typical run-up to a 4X end-game victory.
I really wish Stellaris had a way to tell which planets/habitats we're causing the issue. In huge wars between federations on large maps, I spend so much time looking at hundreds of systems to find that one outlier that my allies skipped over when they took the system.
netgear login
pikashow.ltd
We are interested in hearing about which victory conditions players would like to see return in Sins II. Occupation victory didn't seem all that popular, so we were thinking of ditching it. However, if enough players are interested, we could look at it again.
If you are interested in victory conditions, here is an article with some interesting reflections: https://explorminate.co/seals-victory-in-age-of-wonders-3-mechanical-wonder/
A few of my own reflections on victory conditions, though they may apply more to full-on 4X games:
1. I'd want them to kick in/be achieveable reasonably soon after it's clear who has won. Some way of forcing the remaining players to challenge you without resulting in long downtime of event-less turns/play time.
2. I'd want some flexibility to achieve them. I find it unexciting if in the first 10% - 20% of a game I already need to decide what victory condition I pick at the end. Let me build my engine first and then decide, based on how the game goes, what will be the most effective way to end it.
3. Shared allied victory would be nice to not force pointless wars at the end.
4. Similarly, I liked the concept of a diplomatic/peaceful victory, focused on gaining allies. Maybe minor factions can play a role here.
(Linked that, not really a VC, it would be nice to take over planets through means other than military e.g. culture.)
5. The research victory was ok in Sins 1. It was the turtle victory to bring a stalemate to an end. Maybe something involving one or more structures to make it easier to interrupt?
6. Rise of Nations did a Wonders victory which was also a nice touch to control when the game would end.
Gotta go but I might add a few reflections another time.
Flagship victory!
I'm not sure how much dev time a new victory condition costs, but getting back the ones that were present in Sins 1 + some wonder one would be great. Although not popular, it gives a nice twist and increases replayability across the board. Something like a 'crisis' from Stellaris victory (the thing the Vasari is running from?) could be a great one as well, but that really changes the game and requires a lot more time I assume.
A few more reflections on victory conditions seen elsewhere.
A victory points condition. Seen in many board games but there are also video game examples. Settlers 7 is one example. Humankind another. Northgard's fame conditions is also similar. Their beauty is their flexibility. You can achieve dominance in more than one category and can shift your focus depending on how the game goes. The downside is theme. It can feel really artificial for one player to win because they achieved enough victory points even though others were more dominant in the classic sense (territories, fleets/armies).
A way to win by culture would be nice. However, that doesn't have to be a separate condition. If culture can directly switch ownership of planets (instead of just turning them neutral through de-population), that could feed into an area-control-threshold victory. That being said, culture would probably need a few more tools to rise to that role e.g. some active forms of spreading (specialised ships? maybe some interaction with envoys to introduce a risk/reward dimension?) and some macro-policy switches to increase culture outputs.
Endless Legend's quest victory was pretty cool but I doubt that can be replicated closely for Sins. However, there might be room for different victory conditions for different factions, reflecting their different lore philosophies and objectives. Say, Vasari have a VC to collect X resources, Advent want to wipe out all TEC factions/ x number of TEC planets, but don't care about Vasari.
I always play with flagship victory on. it is such a simple one yet there are so many ways it can go horribly wrong. One of my favorite moments playing sins was when my friend lost track of his flagship and it got killed out of nowhere.
I also enjoy capital victory as it forces you to have a line that can not be crossed.
Occupation victory is too easy currently but it could be fun, maybe the player has to hold a certain percentage of colonization worlds or make the planet/system REALLY hard to conquer.
I don't like research because it seems to happen so easily.
If we can make the AI treat its flagship with the respect it deserves, could be nifty.
I'd be fine with it being moddable as well if you can't get it to work, or a player only condition
Yah, it feels like they always take it out of combat when it could give them the easy win at a vital gravity well. It is a powerful ship that needs to be used and cared for.
Another idea for a victory condition:
A starbase module that can only be built at a starbase orbiting a star. It uses more multiple slots (maybe 4, to still leave room for some upgrades), and prevents other own starbases from built in that sector. Activating the module disables its offensive capabilities but accumulates victory points. At the set number of victory points, the player wins.
The attraction is that it must be built at a star and the star is typically at the centre of a map and not deep inside a faction's territory. So no "build uber expensive structure at most secure location and just turtle up". Also applies to not being able to surround it with defensive structures and healing posts. You have to take risks and expose yourself. The remaining limitations are to make the starbase itself not already a formidable obstacle to overcome. You can slap lots of defensive upgrades on it to make it last a while under fire, but you will need to commit a fleet to it to push off attackers and really defend your victory.
I'm sure one can come up with a suitable lore surrounding the victory condition. Maybe like Starkiller base in The Force Awakens with the idea of syphoning off the power of a star to charge a game-ending superweapon.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
