Hi folks,



What always bugged me (more than) a little since the very beginning is that with all that different galaxy shapes and cluster options you'd have some serious tools to build and expand your empire in highly strategic ways (which I assume is a basic design feature), forming bottlenecks and whatnot; but as soon as warpdrives are available (which is comparably fast, I think), all that hard work of securing your frontline and turning it into a industrial powerhouse and/or fortress turns to naught. The enemy can simply bypass your defenses. I know that the option to disable the warpdrive might slow down the game quite a bit, but I'd personally be willing to "pay" that price to remain in an optionally consistent empire development strategy.



Perhaps some modder already thought of this, but I'm not yet willing (and able, lacking xml-skills) to dive into the mod-realms. I do have a little bit of programming experience, though - only a little, mind you - and therefore it doesn't strike me as that hard a thing to do (except for the small GUI changes, obviously) - wouldn't this just require to add one more boolean value and couple it to the relevant tech? If I underestimate the work that needs to be poured into this, and/or if you think that it is essential for the enjoyment of this piece of art that one has to adapt his/her strategies drastically over time, please tell me! I do admit I think of this as challenging as well, but I'd prefer it to be just an option.



Thank you for taking your time to read this^^



G

Depending on the race, warp drive generally comes about mid to late game. However, its initial implementation is rather slow and doesn't add too much to the game until later research stages.



I think what your looking for is a system building that lengthens the travel time it takes to use warp drive to reach said system. Sort of like a subspace intensifier that inhibits or lengthens travel to some degree. Utilizing it could pose an issue because a player can warp drive to any known system, but opponents don't know exactly what systems have already been mapped. Perhaps the area effected could be relative to the influence of the system it is built on or having a way of finding out what systems an opponent has mapped. Putting this on the solar farm could make a huge difference to the defenses of the faction if it utilizes the influence area.



I could see this being useful in a MP game verses players whom utilize warp drive strategically.For single player with AI, the building would not add much because the AI would need judge when to use it. That may change depending on the improvements to the AI in the expansion and later patches.

In the Heavy Nova mod, warp drive is slowed down quite a bit in order to preserve the strategic aspect of the lanes.

From what I've seen Warpdrive is more of an impedement to the AI than it is to the player. I often see the AI getting "stuck in Hyperspace" as they traverse absurd distances at snailspeed without gaining any strategical advantage, better yet: every round they are stuck there this fleet cannot fight my fleets

Sometimes on spiral they jump to my "safe" arm. Sadly they take soo long that I can literally train a counter fleet and take a system or two while they cruise around.



I personally think it brings some life in the rigid structures of the Empires. Hardpoints are not invincible anymore(invincible stuff sucks) Some systems gain strategic value others loose some.

I usually just try to blockade the entrances to my constellation before anyone can scout. That way, if they want to bypass my frontline, their only options are the few planets they saw the phase lanes leading to - not perfect, but it does drastically slow down their progress.



Although inevitably, with the game's design, system defenses are pretty much dirt cheap (in terms of dust) by the point in the game where warp drive comes into play. You can afford to build defenses on every system, and your fleets have enough movement to get where they need to be to defend - the only problem is if you don't have enough ships, but in a game like this I think macromanagement is a feature, not an issue.

Generally I agree with this suggestion: the later warp drive upgrades render any attempt to create bottlenecks completely moot. In fact, we've had games where players simply sent tons of fleets of throw-away ships to blockade all of the enemies systems simultaneously.



Early game, off-link travel isn't really an issue because it takes -so- long to get anywhere. In fact, I'd prefer it if off-link travel stayed slow (rather than getting massively faster toward the end of the game): that way it would still be difficult to abuse in the way described above but still be usable for certain tactics. Perhaps if there there was a percentage risk of losing the fleet the further you travelled off-link?



Anyway, I'd definitely support an option to disable it.

That way, if they want to bypass my frontline, their only options are the few planets they saw the phase lanes leading to - not perfect, but it does drastically slow down their progress.

...Which brings me to another, alternate solution... how about this:



An option, something among the lines of "galactic background noise that tampers with your warp drive systems", which restricts warp drive travel to pre-explored planets only - so, no planets that you just know are there, but only the ones you've already visited. I think that would allow for single point defensive strategies while maintaining the strategic value of warp drives (if used right) so that you still are tempted to invest research into gaining faster travel speeds.

GavinHohenheim wrote:


An option, something among the lines of "galactic background noise that tampers with your warp drive systems", which restricts warp drive travel to pre-explored planets only - so, no planets that you just know are there, but only the ones you've already visited. I think that would allow for single point defensive strategies while maintaining the strategic value of warp drives (if used right) so that you still are tempted to invest research into gaining faster travel speeds.

This could make the Amoeba affinity a lot stronger so maybe the need to set up some sort of guidance beacons after the tech is researched.

This could make the Amoeba affinity a lot stronger so maybe the need to set up some sort of guidance beacons after the tech is researched.

True, I didn't think of the Amoeba - how about a "orbital beacon replicator" support module (that would be cheaper for scout type ships) as additional condition: the system has to be explored by a ship with that module to be warp-marked for your empire, or however you'd like to call that. It would fit to the background noise state the galaxy would be in.



I suppose that stuff would belong into another thread, just to be sure?

Before we even consider this, can we please talk about your influence area being completely useless unless you ALLOW your opponent to scout your systems?



I mean, it's kind of insane that I can have INFLUENCE over an area, and yet the people in *MY* /INFLUENCE/ have absolutely no idea I'm there. The only way for your influence to actually mean anything is if you allow your opponent to scout your entire empire - and if you're trying to deny scouting right from the get-go, you run into a lot of problems.

Much of the scouting occurs early game before many/all the systems are claimed by a faction. That happens, but your right about influence area not mattering. In fact, it may be more of an issue if the system was not scouted.



I do think importance on influence area needs some boosting, but I was just suggesting an idea that could possibly workout or add something interesting to solve GavinHohenheim's issue. I think GavinHohenheim should play around with the previously suggested mod as an alternative to trying to take out the whole warp drive tech.