The Art of War tells us that there are five fundamental factors to war: Politics, Weather, Terrain, the Commander, and Doctrine. But the terrain has been largely static in RTS’s.
A new feature of Sins of a Solar Empire II is that all the planets are in active orbits. Their location and the links between them change over time. Because the orbit differs based on how far from the sun the planet is (Mercury orbits our sun much faster than Uranus), formerly cohesive empires can become scattered over time. The process is slow, but it is happening. Orbits can either be prograde or retrograde.
This means that players always need to be evaluating their position on the map. New threats open up as lanes change that connect the player to a planet heavy with pirates, separate a planet from the rest of the player's control, or provide a new route directly to an enemy. It isn’t as simple as creating a turtle system with a massive starbase to block access to the heart of your empire. That may buy you time, but a patient enemy will wait for a better opportunity.
It also means that new opportunities arise over time. Personally, I love getting to an inner world and setting it up with defenses and factories knowing its going to eventually be orbiting through other players' territories and causing havoc. The opposite of a single defensive starbase defending my home planets is having one that orbits into my enemy’s territory and begins blocking them from the rest of the map.
This movement is displayed in game, as well as providing warnings when a new lane will be lost or created. Players' home worlds are at the edges of the system to minimize the impact of orbit changes. The deeper the players go into the system, the more orbits matter. Some players may prefer the stable cycle of the outer planets, and others may rush to control the chaotic inner ring.
Sins has always been a RTS played at 4x speed. The plans the players make take time to pay off; you must carefully balance immediate priorities with long-term goals. The ever-changing map now becomes a part of that equation.
Sins II: Dev Journal 11 - The TEC Rebel Ragnarov Titan
Sins II: Dev Journal 10 - The Vasari Kultorask Titan
Sins II: Dev Journal 9 - The Ankylon Titan
Sins II: Dev Journal 8 - An RTS with a Changing Map
Sins II: Dev Journal 7 - The Argonev Starbase
Sins II: Dev Journal 6 - The Dunov Battlecruiser
Sins II: Dev Journal 5 - The Sova Carrier
Sins II: Dev Journal 4 - The Marza Dreadnought
Sins II: Dev Journal 3 - The Akkan-Class Battlecruiser
Sins II: Dev Journal 2 - Exploring the Kol-class Battleship
Welcome to Sins of a Solar Empire II: Dev Journal 1
I love that concept. I am also glad that there will be an option to turn it off as well. Sometimes I just like to turtle.
I love the system, I just wish it was easier to tell what was going to connect to where. There have been several times where I thought a system was going to connect and then it didn't or the opposite happened. A means of telling us where exactly the lines are going to switch to would be appreciated.
I hope for a strategic map (maybe a research?) to see the constellation of the map later on.
There are some caveats to this map system, if not implemented carefully:Planets far away should stay more or less static but not only have 1 entry point into the "home system" with maybe roids and dwarfs orbiting larger objects. Sometimes a really random map, where you are connected 2 jumps away from the enemy (talking about massive 5 v 5 games), adds to challenge and requires adaptability. I hope there to be some smart balancing to be made throughout development as I fear that the chaotic nature of a rotating inner system with one entry point to the enemy core worlds may cause people to simply deactivate it in 5 v 5 (which would be a shame).
So far it's been a blast to have the orbiting mechanics. It works, even at this point in development. It can only become better with more maps I think, as that may alleviate any problems people have currently.
Question: When the game has the orbits move option on, are moving Capital planets off by default?
Otherwise could'nt a player play whack a mole with his capital planet and always place it in the best defensive position?
I don't have the game so ignore if it's a stupid question.
Hopefully this answers your question. These are the settings right now:
If you have orbiting planets turned on, they will move around the local star. You don't have control over the position or direction of the planets. The human map designer either sets this up explicitly or sets up the options for the generator.
During the game you can't move your capital planet to the best defensive position (or any position).
Edit: As I was eating I realized you probably meant changing which planet is your capital planet as opposed to actually moving the planet itself. In a capital planet victory, you aren't allowed to change it.
In a non-capital planet victory, yes, its a valid strategy to move your capital planet just like it was in Sins1 however there are costs associated with it and the defensibility of the new position(s) may change based on the planet orbits.
How do you change/refund the Salvage Policy on your starting Cap? I guess it's ok to have early just in case you lose it but after the first 15 min I would much rather change it to something more useful.
Drag it out to sell it. That's a great strategy at the start for an income boost if you are confident you won't lose your capital ship.
Thank you, also found out that works for planet upgrades so you can change them as needed.
It would be cool to have a map that is swirling a Black Hole or Worm Hole that would require the home planet to move or game to be won quickly. Worm Holes could also be used to randomly displace worlds.
I love the new changes, but it's time for a rebalance of starbases! You need to introduce more upgrades and stages to them, so that a single base can truly be a formidable presence capable of holding its own on a planet. Additionally, make these upgrades and higher stages extremely expensive, so that having a powerful starbase comes at a significant cost. This would greatly enhance the game with the new orbital mechanics and add more excitement for defense-focused players.
Also it would be helpful and cool to hear a distinct sound when a fully-expanded starbase is destroyed, just like it is now with titans, or when the enemy has finished there first fully-expanded starbase. So yah Starbases should have a high cost to fully expand, equivalent to that of five titans, and it should take a long time to fully expand. However, once fully expanded, starbases should be capable of defending the planet against a level 10 titan alone, necessitating the enemy to use more than a level 10 titan and some carryer to destroy a fully expanded starbase.
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