What I don't like is that after you've invaded a system (or counter-invaded a system) you've now created a situation where you have to keep a sizable fleet parked in orbit pretty much till the end of the game. Otherwise someone else can easily come into orbit and flip your system to them within a turn or two.



There needs to be a way to help build up a system's defenses after it has been invaded (especially for the Sophons). Maybe by keeping a friendly fleet in orbit you get a percentage of their Invasion value as a "Rebuilding" value.

I like the simplicity of the invasion, and yet I find it a little too simple. It's nice to not have to deal with clutter of transports and troops, but I have to admit that it is a little bland without it.



What I really like is that the invasions take time, sometimes a lot of time if the target is well developed.

I agree that (a) currently ground combat is too simple compared to space combat, and (b) if it gets made more complex, it should have an "auto resolve" like space combat does. In MOO2 there were a bunch of techs that had different effects for ground combat, and different racial abilities also. Right now the progress bar for siege is too abstract, and there are too few techs that affect it (HE batteries is really the only one until you get to the top tiers). There aren't really any ground-defence planetary improvements either.



Is it just me, or do the progress bars often fail to appear? I have had a few sieges, and the progress bars often seem absent. Sometimes if I exit and re-enter the game they appear, but sometimes not. Even when I have a decent fleet sieging a small outpost, it takes 6-8 turns, which seems to slow down the pace.

SomeGuy wrote:
I like the simplicity of the invasion, and yet I find it a little too simple. It's nice to not have to deal with clutter of transports and troops, but I have to admit that it is a little bland without it.



What I really like is that the invasions take time, sometimes a lot of time if the target is well developed.

Try throwing some cruisers with invasion modules, and see how long it'll take to get down a very well developed system. Let me save you from trouble; 2 turns.

lyravega wrote:
Try throwing some cruisers with invasion modules, and see how long it'll take to get down a very well developed system. Let me save you from trouble; 2 turns.

Do you find a benefit to multiple HE batteries, or is just one enough? I have found that unless you have a tech advantage, it still takes much longer than that.

I personally feel like a ground combat feature is something substantial enough to be part of an expansion pack along with other big additions like new factions and whatnot.

lyravega wrote:
Try throwing some cruisers with invasion modules, and see how long it'll take to get down a very well developed system. Let me save you from trouble; 2 turns.

Those cruisers are just going to get murdered by any equal force of cruisers that did not waste space on 'lil boxes full of army mans with pew pew shooters though.

Get some modules on medium and heavy size ships (so you have enough space to get defensive modules). Pack smaller ones with missiles.

I love the MOO2 Ground combat. It looked fantastic and was so simple.



I'm of the thought that in a 4X game you're in control of your empire. You have Generals and such to look after ground combats.

I like it, but that is a feature that seems hard to impliment. I would think if they were going to add that it wouldn't be far off, but don't quote me on that!

Xenos wrote:
I too miss very much ground combat in 4X. GalCiv model "population is troops" strikes me as dumb, Distant Worlds in marginally better but still bland. For all the flak MoO III took, the ground combat part was pure genius. I would be very happy to see somenthing like that in ES.

I have to agree with this. MoO III had a brilliant ground combat system that even managed to get me through a good deal of boredom by trying to figure out which strategies worked best against which.

Jaccubin wrote:
Those cruisers are just going to get murdered by any equal force of cruisers that did not waste space on 'lil boxes full of army mans with pew pew shooters though.

You don't just send them alone, naturally...

Spyke wrote:
What I don't like is that after you've invaded a system (or counter-invaded a system) you've now created a situation where you have to keep a sizable fleet parked in orbit pretty much till the end of the game. Otherwise someone else can easily come into orbit and flip your system to them within a turn or two.



There needs to be a way to help build up a system's defenses after it has been invaded (especially for the Sophons). Maybe by keeping a friendly fleet in orbit you get a percentage of their Invasion value as a "Rebuilding" value.

Many militaristic buildings give recovery bonuses already.

lyravega wrote:
Many militaristic buildings give recovery bonuses already.

Correct, but you have to build them to do any good... And even then it is WAY too easy to flip a recently invaded system back.



I'm just suggesting that if I have to park my fleet over that system for a good 20-50 turns I would like to get some additional benefit out of it being there in trying to help rebuild.

SomeGuy wrote:
I like the simplicity of the invasion, and yet I find it a little too simple. It's nice to not have to deal with clutter of transports and troops, but I have to admit that it is a little bland without it.



What I really like is that the invasions take time, sometimes a lot of time if the target is well developed.

I agree with this post 100%

Not having to build and escort invasion ships is neat. The fact that invasions take several turns is a nice idea too. Too often in other 4x have I lost a system because the enemy snuck an invasion ship past my defenses. Rage ensues.

And, like SomeGuy, while I like this system, it doesn't feel developed enough. I hope it makes sense :P

Maybe there could Guerillas that make it so that the enemy can't immediately take full control of an world's industry and resources. Instead, they have to put down resistance fighters and pacify the populace if they want to use a planet in any useful capacity, which could take many turns if the people of that planet liked the previous management more than the new one.

I love the MOO2 Ground combat. It looked fantastic and was so simple.



I'm of the thought that in a 4X game you're in control of your empire. You have Generals and such to look after ground combats.

I love to MOO2 ground combat and seeing something like that in ES would be amazing.

Well to be honest I think ground combat is quite unrealistic in an age of space ships. You can just bombard the whole planet into oblivion it you were so inclined.



It would make sense though to give the player the choice of conquering to preserve the infrastructure - if not necessarily the populcae - or to destry everything from above to either retreat an leave the planet destroyed or to recolonize anew.



That would also favor short punitive raids into enemy territory to destroy industrial capacity even if you have not the means to conquer systems.

Orbital bombardment's downside is that not only can it destroy key infrastructure, it also kills off an potential workforce. Repopulating an entire planet after conquering it would require an tremendous amount of women* and several decades at the very least. Plus, there would be no one to work the factories, harvest resources, or build things. This is why an ground invasion is more difficult to achieve, but also much more rewarding for the empire that can accomplish it.



*Or in the case of the Horatio, to build cloning vats or transporting billions of people across space. Not economical. Come to think of it, is there even any female Horatio? Being an Horatio seems depressing to me, due to the lack of variety when it comes to mingling with people.

To be honest having ground troops seems like a good idea. Both for the realistic part of the game and the strategic part. But as of what I've seen this far, I'd say it might turn into a complicated procedure, since it would be a different aspect of the combat than space to space combat. Ultimately I'd like to see it but with a off/on mode so you can choose if you want it or not. ^^

At the moment, ground combat and planetary invasion are simulated but you only see the results.

I find it quite satisfactory as it more or less reproduces the features you had in MOO2 without having to escort loads of transport once you begin a conquest campaign.

You have some building options on planets making conquest more difficult and some ship options making conquest more easy.

I like it.

Jarhead0331 wrote:
I asked this in the faq thread, but have not received a response yet. I think the topic deserves its own thread.



Will Endless Space feature any form of planetary invasion and ground combat? I think this is essential for immersion and no "ultimate" space 4x game can be complete without it. It does not need to be fully featured. It could be abstracted. But I believe constructing troop transports and ground units and having the option of landing them on enemy colonies is a key component of any 4x game. Planetary bombardment is also important for softening up defensive structures and units, or for devastating industry/population.



In MOO3, I loved building combined arms units and joining them together into Armies, Corps and divisions. Despite all the criticism MOO3 gets, no other 4x game has permitted this kind of flexibility in ground combat. I'd love to see something like it in ES.



So, are these features planned for the release build. If not, can we ever expect them in an add-on/patch?



Thanks.