Having played ES for some time now i think i have stressed the system enough to be able to propose some changes.

What i missed very much is the diversity in equipment especially in weapons. Currently weapon research is very dissappointing because every research level is nothing but an increase in numbers.

Due to this ship design is nothing but a arms race: "Oh he has already lv2 beams so i need lv2 shields to counter this" In Moo2 there are much more subtle ways of effective ship design because researched weapons are not always a better version of the previous one but sometimes include unique side effects like the Ion Cannon which deals little damage but roasts the enemys ship system or the Mass Canon that is not very strong but the damage is not reduced by range...

Those little but important side effects could (used correctly) turn battle. Even against a technically advanced foe.



I would suggest such effects also for ES.



Examples:



- Beam Weapons LV1 and LV2 are "Lasers" Lasers will never miss a target because they are "ligth" very fast, with no recoil and no parameters which induce any inaccuracy. So why not giving them 100% accuracy but reducing their damage to the ships armor.



- Ion Torpedos/Cannons will cause little armor/hull damage but make the ship vulnerable to following attacks (reducing the effectivity af the ships weapons/defense for the battle or maybe for longer until the ship is repaired)



- Heavy Mass Guns that need very much space and fire very slow but can not be deflected by def (or a specific def is needed to deflect them)



- Special Armor types that not only adds HP but reduces the incoming damage from Energy\Kinetic\Missles by X%



- EMP guns which cause no hull damage but very much shield damage



If you would also like such "Side Effects" then...vote lol

One possible way to do this would be through the card system.



EMP Laser - Does less damage. Decreases shields when used with the sabotage card.

Stalker0 wrote:
One possible way to do this would be through the card system.



EMP Laser - Does less damage. Decreases shields when used with the sabotage card.

Thats not the same. With the cards you can not compensate a superiour tech enemy and their usage is mainly based on luck. While with specific weapon effects you can work out dedicated strategies to outmaneuver the enemy even if he is technologic advanced.

It would also add more diversity in research. Currently you always putt the most advanced tech in your ship model you know that it will always beat anything else you have so far. When considering specific Weapon/Armor charecteristics you have to think more before creating a ship model.

I agree, if only because it makes the weapons tech tree more interesting than it currently is. As it stands, it's not very interesting to research weapon upgrades bar getting your first missile or first beam module.

Scubasage wrote:
I agree, if only because it makes the weapons tech tree more interesting than it currently is. As it stands, it's not very interesting to research weapon upgrades bar getting your first missile or first beam module.

Yes thats exactly what i meant. Later weapons and armor researches do not add any additional tactical options. The previous tech automatically becomes obsolete with a higher one and you dont have to think about anything in the your ship configuration. When you have to consider the side effects of those techs then maybe some ship designs with older techs may suddenly become very usefull even in later game.

A good example for good diversity of ship modules according to me is EVE Online.

I would love to see a Space Sim with that kind of configurability.

Could be a nice mix of weapon specific traits. New traits on old weapons unlocked through advancment in that weapon trees tech and maybe even seperate modules attached to a ship to help it specialize in such things. I.e armoured warheads that smash and sunder deflection modules

noctoz wrote:
A good example for good diversity of ship modules according to me is EVE Online.

I would love to see a Space Sim with that kind of configurability.

I have been playing EVE online for years and it still surprise me all time the way there is no one fit all solution and there all ways adding to it.

Cross-pollination:

/#/endless-space/forum/37-modding/thread/15740-brainstorming-more-interesting-weapons

Combat_Koala wrote:
Could be a nice mix of weapon specific traits. New traits on old weapons unlocked through advancment in that weapon trees tech and maybe even seperate modules attached to a ship to help it specialize in such things. I.e armoured warheads that smash and sunder deflection modules

Something that would be incredibly neat would be something like a "talent" unlock, depending on the tech level of your weapons and armour, rewarding you for higher level weaponry other than through damage. For example, if you divide all weapons in roughly two tiers, then you could get one "talent" T2 weapon. So, if you have T2 beams (+1 talent), T1 missiles and T1 kinetics, you get one "talent". If you have T2 beams (+1 talents), T2 missiles (+1 talent), T1 kinetics, you have two "talents".



These talents (or specialisations or whatever you want to call them) would basically modify the base weaponry for more interesting effects, with better ones taking up more than one talent. As examples (some stolen from the MoO2 weapon modifications):

• MIRV: Missiles fires four warheads, each with 20% damage.
• Point Defence Beams: -25% damage for beams, but contributes to missile defence.
• Heavy Mass Drivers: -25% accuracy for kinetics, +25% damage for kinetics
• Drone Warheads (2 talents): Missiles have a 50% chance to not be destroyed after hitting a target and try to hit target again next turn (think Stargate Atlantis-style drones)
• Beam Sweep (2 talents): Beams do 10% of the damage to another random enemy ship (subject to accuracy).
• Plasma Slugs (2 talents): Kinetics count as beam or kinetics, depending on which gives the higher damage.
  
  

Numbers are obviously pulled out of my hat, but the principle should be clear. Note that all 1 talent effects are not strictly better than the regular versions for a reason...

ørret wrote:


- Beam Weapons LV1 and LV2 are "Lasers" Lasers will never miss a target because they are "ligth" very fast, with no recoil and no parameters which induce any inaccuracy. So why not giving them 100% accuracy but reducing their damage to the ships armor.

Lasers must be aimed first at their targets. Aiming can take some time (think about auto-focus in your camera) and this affects accuracy. And only IF target locked THEN laser fires with guaranteed hit.

ChillingTouch wrote:
Lasers must be aimed first at their targets. Aiming can take some time (think about auto-focus in your camera) and this affects accuracy. And only IF target locked THEN laser fires with guaranteed hit.

Yeah good idea for a new support module. "Advanced Targeting Computer" -> One/two rounds without fire for target calculation but then +20%/50% chance to hit.

ørret wrote:
- Beam Weapons LV1 and LV2 are "Lasers" Lasers will never miss a target because they are "ligth" very fast, with no recoil and no parameters which induce any inaccuracy. So why not giving them 100% accuracy but reducing their damage to the ships armor.

This is just plain wrong. Lasers do have recoil like anything else, since photons have impulse p=h*lambda.