Hull





Rational



With the exp pack, we want to strengthen the military playstyle of each faction. For that, we're going to have unique stats for the Hull for each faction. For instance, Cravers Hull will have more Health Point than others whereas Amoebas' are going to have a tonnage reduction on defence module... In addition to those differences, we add a specificity which is common to all the hull of a Faction.



Besides, we want to strengthen the interest of all the hull class, and we're going to add new mechanism to reinforce the use of the three existing family (small, medium and large).





Special Slot



In addition to the tonnage limit, each Hull has a specific 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 customize and specialize their ships and makes bigger hulls more interesting.





Property

[LIST=1]

HEALTH: Health Points which decrease each time the ship is touched.

REPAIR RATE: Defines how fast the ship regains health between turns.

EVADE: an initial value which decreases depending on the tonnage %. Evade = initial score – [tonnage/tonnagemax)*10]

TONNAGE: Available space to equip modules.

SPECIAL SLOTS: Number of slots in which you can place unique modules. Unique modules also require tonnage and can require more than one slot.

MILITARY POWER: It gives an idea of the strength of the ship. Defined by the weapon and defense modules on the ship.

INVASION POWER: Invasion strength of a ship. Without enough power the ship will be unable to invade a system. It’s defined by troops and invasion modules.

COST: Industry cost of the hull.

SPECIFICITY: Each Hull has a special ability related to each race.

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Hull Specificity



Amoeba

they have 1 extra special slot on their hulls



Automaton

they have an auto-repair when their Hull Points are under a certain limit



Cravers

They have a passive bonus on bombardment success



Hissho

They have a tonnage reduction on fighter modules



Horatio

They have a tonnage reduction on troop modules



Pilgrim

They have a passive bonus on evade and speed



Sower

They have a malus on evade but a bonus on accuracy for all their weapons



Sophon

They have a tonnage reduction cost on Special Weapons & Defences but others weapons & defences are more expensive.



United Empire

Their hulls are cheaper in term of industry.





Module System



Rational



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 are 1 module specialized for 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 tweaks depending on the phase and the weapon type. However, there is only one type of defence, 100% effective in every phase.



Moreover, certain support modules can now affect battle property even if they affect other aspects of the ship. Eg: the engine module increases the ship speed but also the evasion. They do not have Military Power anymore; this value is dedicated to military-only modules.





Weapons and defences



Each weapon is subdivided with a distance specialization: Long Range, Medium Range & Melee.

In addition to the rules regarding the efficiency established above, the specialization slightly modifies the tuning of the properties, the twist is that it's also linked to the weapon type. For instance Long Range missiles have more damage than others whereas Long Range Kinetics emphases Accuracy.



With this new system, it’s going to be easier to have efficient defences. However, by playing with the value we still can create tendencies within the weapons. For instance, Flak can have values tuned to be better against long range weapons. Thus, equipping its fleets with Short Range Missiles is more rewarding but also more risky.



Weapon Property

[LIST=1]

TYPE: Kinetic, Laser or Missile

FAMILY: Long Range, Medium Range or Melee

LEVEL: 1, 2 or 3

ACCURACY: Probability to hit the target.

DAMAGE: Damage dealed to the target.

EVADE: Certain modules have a negative evasion score because they make the ship heavier.

WEIGHT: Tonnage used by the module

COST : Industry cost of the module

[/LIST]



Defense Property

[LIST=1]

TYPE: Kinetic, Laser or Missile

LEVEL: 1, 2 or 3

DEFENSE: Defense level of the module

EVADE: Certain modules have a negative evasion score because they make the ship heavier.

WEIGHT: Tonnage used by the module

COST : Industry cost of the module

[/LIST]





Damage Formula



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



Probability = WeaponModuleAccuracy – Target.Evade



Then, we use the following formula to determinate the real damage:



Damage done= WeaponModuleDamage *1- Target.Defense/(Target.Defense+ Target.DefMod)



The DefMod is a variable which defines the efficiency of the defense. Higher the DefMode, higher the damage done. The DefMod can be affected thanks to hull class, faction traits, heroes’ abilities …





Support



Certain support modules are going to affect the battle resolution and new ones appear. Moreover, some support modules which are not using special slots have a tonnage value based in percent instead of a flat value.





Current module categories:

• Engine: they affect the ship’s evasion in addition to the movement speed. The tonnage value is a percent.
• Invasion: they are dedicated to invasion and invasion only. Moreover, troop modules are also taken into account to invade a system. The values are going to be higher.
• Civilian: they reduce a lot the evasion of the ship. -30%
• Scout: they affect the weapon’s accuracy. +x% on all weapon accuracy. The tonnage value is a percent.
  
  

New module categories:

• Troops: they consume different resources (including population) and are used to invade systems in addition to invasion modules. Using troops will allow starting with a better initial ownership and more population. They can be refilled in a colony.
• Fighter: fighters are stacked as modules. When they are destroyed during a fight, a module is removed from the ship. Retrofit can be used to “repair” damaged module.
• Bomber: bombers are stacked as modules. When they are destroyed during a fight, a module is removed from the ship. Retrofit can be used to “repair” damaged module.
• Bombs: allow to directly attack an opponent system when orbiting. The bomb defines the effect of the bombardment actions. The tonage value is a percent.
  
  

Special Module



These are the modules which require special slots in addition to tonnage. There are no other restrictions; so a player can combine one Ultimate Weapon and one Ultimate Defence if there are enough special slots.

Keep in mind that the following sample are work in progress, and we'll be glad to read your own proposals =)





Special Weapons



Multi targeting Weapon: this weapon targets several ships at the same time. Requires 1 unique slot.

Tonnage: 20

Industry cost: 500



Paralysing Weapon: this weapon paralyses its target for the next phase and it shoots once per phase. No Weapon can be equipped on this ship. Requires 2 unique slots.

Tonnage: 50

Industry cost: 1000



Instant Killing Weapon: this weapon can kill a ship instantly but only shoot once per fight. The phase in which it shoots depends on the module: it can be either the last round of the 2nd phase or the last round of the 3rd phase. A FX warns the opponent that a ship is equipped with this weapon. Requires 3 unique slots.

Tonnage: 100

Industry cost: 2500



Neutron Beam: this weapon destroys all the troop modules of the targeted ship. Requires 1 unique slot.

Tonnage: 100

Industry cost: 2500





Special Defences



Fleet Shield: for one specific phase (depending on the module), the fleet cannot attack nor be attacked. Neither invasion modules nor troop modules can be equipped on this ship. Requires 3 unique slots. Fighters, Bombers & paralysing weapons can still go through.

Tonnage: 100

Industry cost: 2500



Beacon: forces opponent to focus on this ship before being able to aim others. It also cancels the targeting priority system. Multi targeting weapon is forced to only aim this ship. Requires 2 unique slots.

Tonnage: 50

Industry cost: 1000



Lightning Rod: the ship cannot be paralysed. Requires 1 unique slot.

Tonnage: 20

Industry cost: 500



Hadron Shield: this shield automatically cancels any Neutron Beam targeting the ship. Requires 1 unique slot.

Tonnage: 20

Industry cost: 500





Special Support Module



All the modules in the following category require at least 1 special slot: Fighter, Bomber, Troop.

Very interesting...



It makes going for specialized ship designs a really interesting - not to say vital - thing to do.



Just wondering if you plan to also rework the CP system, to allow some flexibility. But frankly, really looks awesome, just wondering how to avoid too much micro-management.



Combats will just feel like another game altogether....

A few preliminary comments:

[LIST=1]

I like racial hull specialisation and the special slot idea, but it will be hard to balance and we'll have to see how it works out.

Do you mean that longe range weapons do not shoot in the melee phase and melee weapons do not shoot in the long range phase, or have you just omitted it?

So if I read between the lines, you want to solve the old first phase beats them all-problem by making melee weapons always more efficient in the end?

I don't understand weapon property 5: Do you mean something akin to armor/shield/flak penetration? Because that's how it'd make sense, but the chosen word for it doesn't reflect that meaning at all. XD

Damage probability: We already had the discussion. I'm against mathematics that can go zero or negative for hit probabilities.

I like the new support module applications. People wanted engines upping evasion stats for ages, troop modules have to be refilled and dumping dust into refilling strikecraft bays gives a new use for it.

Nice special weapons and I'm very happy that the neutron beam made it, but please rename the proton shield into a hadron shield. We don't want to try decelerating neutrons by accelerating protons and dumping them with em-interactions in the hull, since this would rather be exactly not the point and half a nuclear reactor reaction in the hull is half too much, already. XD

[/LIST]

@Sharidann

Nothing is decided yet, regarding the CP. For the micromanagement, we'll try to not push it too far. We'll try to work on the battle progression by unlocking features one by one, and thus not overflowing the player with too many options.



@Nosferatiel



Updated the post:



1) Yes it will, but we should assume that some races will be weaker than others regarding battle.

2) Yes, I mean Long Range will not shoot during Melee and vise versa.

3) It's more complicated, I think, because I need to test the impact of fighters & bombers and include them in the balancing of the new weapons.

4,5) Removed the old parameters linked to the previous damage formula we modified after discussing it in the overview thread.

7) renamed ^^

Meedoc wrote:
@Sharidann

Nothing is decided yet, regarding the CP. For the micromanagement, we'll try to not push it too far. We'll try to work on the battle progression by unlocking features one by one, and thus not overflowing the player with too many options.



@Nosferatiel



Updated the post:



1) Yes it will, but we should assume that some races will be weaker than others regarding battle.

2) Yes, I mean Long Range will not shoot during Melee and vise versa.

3) It's more complicated, I think, because I need to test the impact of fighters & bombers and include them in the balancing of the new weapons.

4,5) Removed the old parameters linked to the previous damage formula we modified after discussing it in the overview thread.

7) renamed ^^

thx, Meed. Now #7 is ambiguous and can be understood as a "shield vs hadrons" which works without any specification howsoever that happens, so it's fine for scifi.

This is very excitingly awesome!



Especially this:

Meedoc wrote:


Damage done= WeaponModuleDamage *1- Target.Defense/(Target.Defense+ Target.DefMod)



The DefMod is a variable which defines the efficiency of the defense. Higher the DefMode, higher the damage done. The DefMod can be affected thanks to hull class, faction traits, heroes’ abilities …

Can't stress enough how awesome it is that you are using and even extending on a design-change that I suggested!



I also look forward to all these interesting specials. I hope the AI can deal with all this stuff. The Beacon-Module sounds like a core of almost all fleets I would design: 1 Big ship pumped up with as much defense/repair as possible and the rest all glass cannons.

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.

Paralyzingly weapon = Ion Cannon



Rather than paralyzing the target what about a disabling effect? For those ships without the counter module, a high % chance to disable weapons/defenses/engines etc very similiar to being a paralyzed but different as the ion cannon has a % chance to disable modules for x combat rounds. Hmm though what if shields effected the ion cannon as the first time it fire it depletes the shield massive with a % chance to disable the shield? This would remove the need for a specific counter module will still allowing players to defend against it to a limited degree. Basically the shield has to be depleted before you get the fancy disabling effects granted via the ion cannon firing on targets without shields



It's a lot to take in, have to think more... But it will be tricky balancing micro management... How will weapon roles be determine? A weapon designer or a unique module as that could be potentially a lot of modules if each can be specialized

Paralyzing and instant killing seem really strong.

If troop and fighters module can be "destroyed" then repaired thanks to retrofit, why not have weapons that would destroy weapons/defences/modules of targeted ships ? Then the enemy would have to retrofit their ships to get the damaged modules back to work. It seems the code is already there to do such a thing.

VieuxChat wrote:
Paralyzing and instant killing seem really strong.

If troop and fighters module can be "destroyed" then repaired thanks to retrofit, why not have weapons that would destroy weapons/defences/modules of targeted ships ? Then the enemy would have to retrofit their ships to get the damaged modules back to work. It seems the code is already there to do such a thing.

Those two may be strong, but if a ship has max three modules, you can always paralyse an instakiller or shoot it down, beforehand. Also for each paralisationship, you can only take out one other ship and need two slots for that, while the defense costs just one.

Cool, looking forward to it. One quick question: Is the hull specificity is based upon the affinity? Or will this be something separate that people can choose while customizing a race? It would be fun, for example, to be able to select your hull specialty as separate and distinct from your affinity.

It could also be tied to the ship-designs.

@VieuxChat



that is something that modders will be able to do, but we don't want to go this far, else we may set up a vicious circle, and it will strengthen even more the long range weapons.



Regarding Special Weapons and Defenses, those are just leads and nothing is definitive (and if you have other leads you want us to explore, we'll be glad =))



@KingJohnVI



The hull specificity will be linked to the Affinity Mapping because that is what defines the hull you're going to have in game. We currently do not have plans to add more choices in the custom faction screen.

@Meedoc:



As you wish. Then consider this one.



[SpecialWeapon] Implosion Field:

Needs three special module slots.

Damages all ships and strikecraft on the field depending on their tonnage (tonnage * multiplier = damage per round), except the emitting ship. Cannot be evaded, diminished or negated. Also hits own ships.

Ship cannot support more weapons, ship cannot support better engines.



Tonnage 500

Industry Cost 5000

Meedoc wrote:


@KingJohnVI



The hull specificity will be linked to the Affinity Mapping because that is what defines the hull you're going to have in game. We currently do not have plans to add more choices in the custom faction screen.

I figured as much; I don't have have any particular objection to it, I was just more curious about the mechanics of it all.



ALSO:



I feel like this may have already been suggested somewhere and I just missed it but:



Special Weapon:



Teleporter: Melee Range Only - Percent chance to capture enemy vessel based upon #of troops on opposing vessel and vessel to be captured. Ex: Offensive Troops / (Offensive Troops + Defensive Troops). Requires 2 unique slots.

Tonnage: 50

Industry cost: 1000



Interference Field: Prevents enemy troops from teleporting onto this friendly ship to capture it. Requires 1 unique slot.

Tonnage: 20

Industry cost: 500

Teleporters are so boring, why not utilize the troop lander modules + marine boarding parties special module and have them launch during the melee combat phase in an attempt to board? Basically I want to see a little ship across the screen during combat... Turrets and maybe flak could kill it? Once boarding party touches down on enemy craft something along the lines of internal security response teams...



Maybe a deep tech could unlocking teleporting?

The Fal'Hadei inspired little module:



[SpecialDefense/Weapon] Fireline System:

Requires 2 unique slots.

Tonnage 30

Industry cost 300

All ships in the fleet with a fireline system module share their shields.

Only one ship of the fleet with a fireline system module fires it's beam weapons with the strength of all beam weapons on all ships with a fireline system module.

I've been thinking about the specialized modules over the weekend. As much as I like specialization ship wise I really feel that this will introduce too much micro management if every special weapon requires a specialized defensive module to counter. I suggested using shields to counter the paralyzing weapon (ion cannon) and that honestly seems like a valid counter and would encourage more balanced ship designs. I'm not saying all specialized weapons would be like this but it would help avoid creating situations where ships must have modules x and y to avoid ships with modules a or b.

As much as I like specialization ship wise I really feel that this will introduce too much micro management if every special weapon requires a specialized defensive module to counter.

A valid concern to keep that balancing act in mind.

Yes, we're aware of this risk. We do not want to have a lot of special weapons / defenses. I think that the quantity will be between 3 - 5. Moreover we'll play with the industry cost, to make ships with powerful module really expensive. Thus, players won't be able to spam them.

The good thing is:

With the new damage-formula and the possibility to focus-fire you no longer need to always have the best of the best in every fleet since even somewhat outdated or smaller fleets will be able to deal at least some damage. (Unless it is negated by repair, which might well happen)