Zougkla wrote:
I like the idea of adding a second set of cards or formations and stuff to make combat deeper, but I think that it could easly be integrated into the existing military tree. There is no reason to have a 5th tree, especially one that uses a different resource. I think a refined version of your idea would be to have some of the cards given by hero abilities.



Other than that, great idea!

I like the idea of separate tech trees because it doesn't stack all the bonuses in one place. However I'm not a big fan of the separate resource idea myself since I think it does just that and gives incentives for aggressive play even more than it already is.

I think that the card system could be implemented... but honestly the control you have in each battle throughout games like sword of the stars I and II, and in a different but similar genre the battle facets of the Total war series, makes for a far better and more immersing game-play. You are able to design where weapons are on your ship, which weapons are fired at what specific ship in each battle, and can even lay out your ships in different formations allowing you to design specialized ships defended by others. I honestly think this is a much better direction to go in. After playing the Alpha i would say that this is the weakest part of the game as of now, and it is a point that should be fixed if this game is going to fully blossom.

mjessm1117 wrote:
I think that the card system could be implemented... but honestly the control you have in each battle throughout games like sword of the stars I and II, and in a different but similar genre the battle facets of the Total war series, makes for a far better and more immersing game-play. You are able to design where weapons are on your ship, which weapons are fired at what specific ship in each battle, and can even lay out your ships in different formations allowing you to design specialized ships defended by others. I honestly think this is a much better direction to go in. After playing the Alpha i would say that this is the weakest part of the game as of now, and it is a point that should be fixed if this game is going to fully blossom.

I agree, as is it is the weakest part of the game. However I do enjoy the card system since it is approachable, and can be very streamlined for multiplayer.

As I stated in another thread, one thing I'd like to see with the combat is a more diverse tech tree for it, akin to that of Master of Orion 2. The thread I posted went into more detail, but boiled down to basically wanted MoO2 with better graphics and some new tweaks. As it was MoO2 was about as close to a perfect space 4x game as I've ever played. The weapons weren't just Lasers, Bigger Lasers, Even BIGGER Lasers; they actually differed in their function. You had a series of standard effect lasers that just damaged whatever they hit, but then you had tractor beams, graviton beams that shot beams of condensed gravity to destroy the structural integrity of ships but couldn't scratch shields, ion cannons that did no damage but ripped through shields, neutron blasters that went through both and killed the crew, and so on.



I'd really also like to see the ability to retreat to and to capture ships. Stealing enemy ships was one of the coolest features in MoO2, and you could design ships specifically to do that. Equip them with neutron blasters or similar devices to kill the enemy crew, a tractor beam to stop them or further down the line you could get teleporters so they didn't need to be immobilized, and extra troop pods to facilitate the odds of you winning. And then on a separate level you could get new tech for your troops to make them better in general.



I wouldn't mind at all having tactics cards and such, with the ability to research/develop new and fancier maneuvers as you go along. But to be honest, I'd really prefer to have some sort of direct control of the ships. For instance, if you had the wider variety of armaments, I wouldn't want to blanket my whole fleet with an ability that's only useful to half of them. An example in the current system would be if, say, you had 6 ships in your fleet, and 3 of them were focused on kinetic weapons, and 3 were focused on missile weapons. Do I choose an ability that ups the kinetics or the missile damage? I have to pick one, and the other half of the fleet suffers, or at least gains no benefit. I'd personally prefer to have some sort of direct control, like being able to tell my missile laden ships to aim for their big vessels and to have my lasers target the smaller ones to maximize the damage dealt.



Again, it really comes down to me yearning for the style of combat in MoO2, and everything leading up to those battles, such as being able to customize the weapons after they were attached to the ship, such as point defense weapons and heavy mount, as well as weapon arcs and ranges and such. I feel the more tactical options and depth, the better, so long as it doesn't get too bogged down and complex, but that's just me.