Affinity wrote:




Couldn't you still have 3 destroyers go up against a fleet of 4 dreadnaughts, and still kill one of the dreadnaughts by targeting all missiles? That's just silly.

Just saying: In a real naval surface-to-surface engagement: I will take two destroyers over a battleship any day (If we still used battleships )



Besides, I already offered a way to counter this problem in my post.

Hi everyone,





Here is a summary of the Expansion. The idea is to give you an overview of the whole content so you can understand the links between all the features. For each point, a thread will detail the mechanics and the content (you already got the one about fighters & bombers and the one about System Invasion so far).





Battle Update





Starting a Battle



Following the feedback of the community regarding the selection of the defender fleet, we’re going to improve the algorithm, and try to find a way for the defender to give a “defense priority” to its fleets.



Before the Battle



We want to add more strategy regarding the battle, and for that there are two new features: Formation and Targeting.



Formation is going to give bonus / malus to the player’s fleet depending on the ship’s class. Thus, players will have to pay more attention to their fleet composition and how the opponent composes its fleets too. Some formations are going to focus on homogeneity and others on diversity. Then a rock-paper-scissor aspect is going to take place because each formation counters one and only one other formation. In this case, an additional bonus is given to the fleet that has the winning formation and a malus is applied to the other.



Targeting allows the player to have more control on the outcome of a battle by allowing refining which enemy ship he wants to kill first. As for the battle cards, the targeting order is defined phase per phase. Targeting orders are preset by the game and unlocked through technology. We define a target thanks to a set of game variable: ship’s health, hull, weapons, defences etc. With those two additions, the battles are going to be more strategic and require a better upstream preparation.





Selecting a Formation

If a formation is selected, the related descriptor is applied on the related ships.



Specifying Targeting Orders

As for the battle cards, the player can pre-select Targeting Orders for each battle phase. The list of the available targeting orders depends on: the selected formation, ships’ levels.





During the battle



Targeting

If no targeting order is given for a phase, the following are used as a default targeting order:

[LIST=1]

Each ship targets the opponent ships which are the less targeted at the moment;

If all the opponent’s ships are equally targeted, the next one is the one with the less health.

[/LIST]

If there is a targeting order, the ship follows the instruction if possible. If not, they use the default targeting options. If the target is destroyed within the phase, they acquire a new target following the active targeting.



Weapons & Defences Formula

We want to make the battle easier to understand and more accessible to the modder. So, from now, all the weapons are going to use the same steps and formula. The difference is going to be done thanks to the tweak of the different values.

They are able to first deflect a part of the projectiles and then, they absorb damage they couldn’t deflect. The amount of projectiles deflected and the absorption are restored at each phase.

However the defenses are still related to a weapon types: kinetics are only defended by kinetic defenses, etc..





First, for each shot we determinate if it hits or not, thanks to the following formula:

Probability = WeaponModuleAccuracy – Target.Evade



Second, we check if the target’s defense can deflect the projectile if the deflection amount is not null

WillBeDeflected = DefenseModule.DeflectionStrength –WeaponModule.Evasion



If it succeeds, the deflection amount of the module is reduced by 1. Else,

DamageDone = WeaponModule.Damage – DefenseModule.Absorption.



If DamageDone < 0; DefenseModule. Absorption = -DamageDone

Else Absorption is null for the rest of the phase and Target.Health -= DamageDone.





FIGHTERS, BOMBERS & TURRETS

Fighters & Bombers are a new kind of armament which is treated as ships during a manual battle. They bring a new strategic dimension, and more epic scene.

Bombers are meant to deal heavy damage to the opponent’s fleet, whereas Fighters are both the first defense against Bombers as well as their primary protection. Note: Fighters deal little damage (Sub-note: Unless they get a direct hit on the exhaust port…).



Common Case

Here is how they proceed during a fight

• Movement: during this step, they move toward the opponent’s fleet
• Encounter: if there are fighters / bombers in both sides, there is an encounter phase
  
  [LIST=1]
• Bombers and turrets cannot shoot during this phase
• Fighters shoot other fighters first, and then bombers. The targeting is the same as the default targeting process: 1 fighter target’s an opponent ship. If all the ships are targeted, the next fighter targets the first of the list.

Fighters split in 2 to follow the surviving opponent’s bombers while the rest flies to the opponent’s fleet in order to protect its fellow bombers.

[/LIST]



Retreat & Offensive Retreat Case

If a fleet retreats during the first phase; their fighters & bombers do not takeoff and are saved. Else, if a fleet retreats during the second or third phase, their fighters & bombers are automatically destroyed.



If offensive retreat is played and countered for the first phase, their fighters & bombers do not takeoff. However, fighters takeoff for the rest of the battle during the next phase in order to defend the fleet if no retreat cards are played.





Battle Report

At the end of a battle, we want to clarify the information to help players to understand what went right and what went wrong.

For that, we’re going to rework the displayed stats, add new ones and also offer a report for each phase in case of a player wants to understand what happened step by step.



At the end of the battle we display a new Battle Report including:

• A global overview
• A detailed report for each battle phase
  
  

The player has 3 buttons to obtain detailed information for each phase, or to switch back to the battle overview. In any case we have the following information either for the whole battle or related to the specific phase.

• First Row (damage and ship destroyed)
• Ships lost: number of ship destroyed by the opponents
• Damage taken: number of effective damage; the damage really taken (what it is called DamageDone above)
• Ships destroyed: number of ship the player destroyed
• Damage done: number of effective damage; the damage really done (what it is called DamageDone above)
• Second Row (weapon efficiency)
• Kinetic efficiency: a percentage equal to damage done / maximum damage
• Laser efficiency: a percentage equal to damage done / maximum damage
• Missile efficiency: a percentage equal to damage done / maximum damage
• Third Row (defence efficiency)
• Kinetic Defence efficiency: a percentage equal to 100 – (damage taken / maximum damage)
• Laser Defence efficiency: a percentage equal to 100 – (damage taken / maximum damage)
• Missile Defence efficiency: a percentage equal to 100 – (damage taken / maximum damage)
  
  

System Invasion



The invasion needs to be more strategic and provide different options to the player. In addition to the current siege system, the player has now the possibility to bombard systems in order to weaken the population and the infrastructure and to start an instant invasion to conquer a system faster. Using the siege strategy requires time but allows capturing a system without damaging it while the Land Invasion is instant but involves loss in both sides.





Siege



During a siege, the Dust income and the Science are lowered, penalizing the development of the empire. The penalty depends on different parameters: heroes, faction traits, star system improvements…. When the progress reaches 100% the system is conquered. No population is killed and no improvement is destroyed.





Bombardment



While the player is sieging, he can click on the bombardment button to weaken the system. For each type of bomb module within the fleet, a new bombardment option is unlocked. The different options can be: destroy improvements, create anomalies, terraform planets or kill population. Each time the player wants to drop bombs on a system, he has to choose one and only one option from the available list. The probability to succeed is then related to the number of fighters / bombers and to the defence of the system. If the quantity of fighters / bombers is higher than the system’s anti-aircraft defences, the bombardment will succeed.





Land Invasion



While the player is sieging, he can click on the Land Invasion button to conquer the system within the turn. In order to do so, it requires at least one ship with troops. Then fighters and bombers offer additional bonus.





Rally Point



The goal is to reduce the micromanagement, from middle to end game, related to the fleet management. Each Empire can set certain rally points through the galaxy. Then, when the player creates a fleet or wants to move it, he can give a rally point as a destination instead of clicking on the related system.





Ship Design



Special Slot & Special Module



In addition to the tonnage limit, each Hull has a number of special slots: a special module can only be placed if there are enough free special slots and enough tonnage left. This system forces the players to adapt their ship design and make bigger hulls more interesting.

The special slots are before all required to equip Ultimate Weapons and Defenses. In addition, all the modules in the following category require at least 1 special slot: Fighter, Bomber, Troop. Those Ultimate weapons and defences are going to bring diversity and new challenges. However, building a ship with this kind of stuff will require a lot of time, but also giving to those ships a real edge.





Module Revamp



The idea is to rationalize how the different weapons and defences work in order to help the player to understand accurately what could be the outcome of a fight. Now, for each type of weapons, there is 1 module specialized in every battle phase: 1 kinetic module more efficient in long range, another for medium range…

• Long range modules are 100% efficient in Long Range and 50% efficient in Medium Range.
• Medium range modules are 100% efficient in Medium Range and 33% Efficient in Long Range and Melee Range
• Melee modules are 100% efficient in Melee and 50% efficient in Medium Range.
  
  

There are different stats tweaking depending on the phase and the weapon type. However, there is only one type of defence, 100% effective in every phase. Besides, certain support module can now affect battle properties even if they also affect other elements of the ship. Eg: the engine module increases the ship speed but also the Evasion. They do not have Military Powers anymore; this value is dedicated to military-only modules.





Other surprises…



Anyway, we want to keep some surprises for later. It would not be fun if you had all the info before getting the first build right?

Affinity wrote:
ehhhhh I'm very weary of the targeting thing. Yes it would be nice to have more control over the fleet, but this should be paired with an equal defense, like tell a ship to intercept if it's not being fired at. Why should you be able to concentrate offenses on a single target when I can't concentrate my defenses in a similar fashion?



As it is described above, and mentioned by Ail, vastly inferior ships could still break through a very strong defense and perhaps even trade evenly in industry cost. That's silly, and it would make the glass cannon fleets even more attractive than they already are. Especially with missiles, this would be ridiculous. I could have 900 flak on all of my ships and you could break through it and destroy a dreadnaught with just 3 missile destroyers. Repeat for each dreadnaught in the fleet, and you could kill a vastly superior fleet with really crappy ships.

Not if these ships are using the new multi-target module that allows a big ship to target two ships.



However, you do bring up a good point in how you would still lose a dreadnought to a couple destroyers. While it could feasibly happen, there should be something to make it less of an absolute fact that you would lose a dread. I think it would be cool if "Long Range Flak" were introduced in which flak from other ships could target missiles headed for other ships provided they were not being targeted by missiles themselves. Of course, this would have to come at a pretty hefty accuracy reduction and require a special slot.

Targeting

If no targeting order is given for a phase, the following are used as a default targeting order:

Each ship targets the opponent ships which are the less targeted at the moment;

If all the opponent’s ships are equally targeted, the next one is the one with the less health.

If there is a targeting order, the ship follows the instruction if possible. If not, they use the default targeting options. If the target is destroyed within the phase, they acquire a new target following the active targeting.

ehhhhh I'm very weary of the targeting thing. Yes it would be nice to have more control over the fleet, but this should be paired with an equal defense, like tell a ship to intercept if it's not being fired at. Why should you be able to concentrate offenses on a single target when I can't concentrate my defenses in a similar fashion?



As it is described above, and mentioned by Ail, vastly inferior ships could still break through a very strong defense and perhaps even trade evenly in industry cost. That's silly, and it would make the glass cannon fleets even more attractive than they already are. Especially with missiles, this would be ridiculous. I could have 900 flak on all of my ships and you could break through it and destroy a dreadnaught with just 3 missile destroyers. Repeat for each dreadnaught in the fleet, and you could kill a vastly superior fleet with really crappy ships.

Is land invasion going to be a flat win/lose, or can it be more along the lines of the three stage battle system, with a landing, attack, and resistance phase.



Unlike the battle system, this would not involve modules, but would show how and why you lost troops or fighters/bombers: Landing has a small chance of destroying fighter/bombers, attack would show how your troops beat their defenses, and their population loss, and resistance would have effects like the loss of improvements, a delay in production, or a temporary stall on when you gain complete control of the system.

I don't care how much the expansion costs. I'm buying!

Ail wrote:
Very good input!

Here's my 2 cent:

I really like the idea of being able to target stuff to make the combat more strategical.

But just like Nosferatiel, I'm also not too happy, that if you are going to change how defenses work anyways, you are still using formulas that can result in 0 damage.



In my simple world defenses should simply act as a percentage in damage-reduction. Without any kind of randomization or absolute reduction values.



Damage done=Raw damage*1-Defense/(Defense+DefMod)

DefMod is a value that determines how much Defense you need to increase the Effective Health by 100%.

So if it is 100, it means that every 100 Defense you need 100% more damage for the same effect.



Some examples:



Low-End-Deflector has 10 Kinetics-Defense.

Let's say you have 5 of them on a ship: Then Damage is multiplied by: 1-50/150=66%



Mid-Level-Deflector has 25 Kinetcs-Defense.

Fit five of them again: Then Damage is multiplied by: 1-125/225=44%



High-End-Deflector has 80 Kinetics-Defense.

Once again with five of them: Then Damage is multiplied by: 1-400/500=20%



I think with some value-tweaking that can be easily made into scaling well with the weapon-damage dished out.

It also prevents unkillable ships.

While I mostly agree with Ail(and misunderstood the use of Target.DefMod in Meedoc's other post) I do think there should be some flat damage mitigation. Meedoc's previous formula for defenses(WillBeDeflected, DamageDone, Absorbtion) look good as a first line of defense, it allows for differences between Flak(WillBeDeflected) and Shields(Absorbtion) and if its just a partial defense with the main defense being armor(Ail's formula) it would provide much more depth to combat.

Are there going to be any improvements to UI (queue management, hot keys, etc.)?

YES TO ALL OF THE ABOVE!



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