[b]Regarding the suggestions themselves:
- Sub: 2. Destroyer:
Creating a two way attack and counter would force all deployments to have destroyers, just in case. And it would have to be enough destroyers to fight a sub-heavy fleet.
Forcing fleet composition isn’t good.[/b]
not necessarily. you could just have a light it up effect. making the destroyer a spotter. i thought that an EMP blast would be interesting, and a sub seemed to be a way to deliver it without it being insta killed. most frigates don’t close to less that 500 in the games i have played.
3. Artillery:
Having a ship type that can’t have engines (a base) and creating modules that only that ship type can use seems interesting. However it must be taken into account that the philosophy of this game all but removes the disadvantage of being inmobile. Many people already remove all engines from many ships just for the slot, not even needing extra modules to be convinced. (This is no strategy game, where ships can reach the enemy while space stations must stay at home)
Didn’t know that. I just finished the game on expert. Going to try the online aspect of the game tonight.
[b]5. Cloaked Missile: Maybe something that can only be seen as it de-cloaks to get targeting. Make it massive. Possibly shield piercing. Think Dune, the slow knife penetrates. Perhaps a module for the Artillery. Destroyer counters perhaps as it uses similar tech as sub. Nothing else really can touch it.
Why “massive, shield piercing,…”. All advantages will have to be balanced with the littlest laser, so if it’s invisible, massive, shield piercing and forces the enemy fleet to use detecting modules, it will probably never be used because it’ll spend 500 energy and 500 people.[/b]
It doesn’t need to be massive. I was just thinking that something that bypasses shields would be nice. One or two weapon modules, big or not, that completely ignores shields. Shields, unlike armor, overlap really well. I know there is a module that knocks out shields temorarily, but I think one laser and one missle module that ignores shields could be very cool. Something that goes in and does like 50 damage to the ship.
6. Flag ship:
Adding the need to specify the strategic command position is interesting but remember that the game doesn’t allow targeting a specific unit, so it would be just adding a random element to battles. (fleet A wins unless one of the 8 ships he’ll probably lose is, by pure luck, the flag ship).
It could be a random element, which would be very interesting. Or a fourth sliding bar could be added (fighter, frigate, cruiser, flagship) Though personally, I prefer the random element. Armies fall apart without effective leadership. While we do choose the plans before the battle begins and then watch the results, if you take the time to picture what actually occurs during this time that we are watching( were it real and getting as accurate to realism as you can get with aliens and spaceships should be a goal i think) are the crews of ships following the orders of the captains, who in turn are being directed by an admiral who is keeping the separate groups operating as a whole. Maybe it should be a communications array and a flagship module… who knows, but what I am getting at is that you have a ship with the module. This is the guy who is overseeing everything. Sending last minute details. Getting people to close the flank. Letting the fighters know that the unit they are supposed to protect is under fire. Etc. The minutia. It is the line of communication that is the difference between victory and a rout. You lose it and you lose the lynch pin of the battle group. Important messages are no longer relayed. There is static where there used to be instructions. Each unit falls back on basic training and can no longer coordinate movements. It is a random element, but it is a realistic random element.