Ideas for this great game

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RudyVW
Space Krill
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon May 12, 2014 8:34 am

Ideas for this great game

#1 Post by RudyVW »

Hi All,

I love this game, currently playing the latest test version 7114.

My thoughts:

Combat:
Very unhappy with the combat system, there doesn't appear to be any consistency. i say simply copy the Ogame style of combat, giving each ship a shot per round. I like the idea of fodder in Ogame which is another way of encouraging different ship builds.

Trade:
Instead of simply having resource points, why not copy another feature from Ogame and have 3 types of resource, by building mines.
Along with allowing gamers to change the focus of each planet, it would enable and facilitate more trade options. Different planet types could have different levels of mining ability, thereby making conquering different planet types more relevant. Additionally, trade bonuses with would offer an alternative to simply conquering them. If trading with a native gave you better rates than simply taking their planet, plus giving a diplomacy bonus to be used when that becomes a feature later in development.

Fuel (and core slot):
Different species could have different engines for their ships, using 2 of the three above noted resources as fuel, with benefits to each. For example, a water world, producing deuterium, would offer cheap fuel, but with slower speed than a crystal powered engine from an inferno world. Then a player could research the other engine type if they wanted. Larger ships, with 2 or more cores, could then double or triple speed and range by incorporating more than one core.

Weapon development:
Encourage development of like weapons, for example mass driver 2, by offering increased power with lower resource cost. Also, why not have some weapons more effective against different shield types? A mass driver may actually be more effective against a shield than an easily deflected plasma pulse, although the plasma would cause much more damage to unshielded or poorly shielded vessels.

Native growth:
Natives that can produce ships and colonise should be doing that more, perhaps they even become more powerful than combatants. When trading becomes a feature this would have even more relevance.

Anyway, I think this project is fantastic and all the contributors deserve all the praise they get.

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MatGB
Creative Contributor
Posts: 3310
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 11:45 pm

Re: Ideas for this great game

#2 Post by MatGB »

RudyVW wrote: Combat:
Very unhappy with the combat system, there doesn't appear to be any consistency. i say simply copy the Ogame style of combat, giving each ship a shot per round. I like the idea of fodder in Ogame which is another way of encouraging different ship builds.
That's a perpetually discussed issue that the devs are considering changing/implementing, I dislike the current combat system but have learnt how to game it well enough.
Trade:
Instead of simply having resource points, why not copy another feature from Ogame and have 3 types of resource, by building mines.
Along with allowing gamers to change the focus of each planet, it would enable and facilitate more trade options. Different planet types could have different levels of mining ability, thereby making conquering different planet types more relevant. Additionally, trade bonuses with would offer an alternative to simply conquering them. If trading with a native gave you better rates than simply taking their planet, plus giving a diplomacy bonus to be used when that becomes a feature later in development.
The game used to have both Food and Minerals as extra focuses, when they were removed initially I disliked it but the game is so much more fun now, it's meant to be a galactic strategy game not a resource management game and the Keep It Simple approach to resources works well to support that.

Curious, what is Ogame? (d'oh, internet) OK, looked it up, had never heard of it before, looks vaguely interesting but it's just another MMO with a similar theme to this game, right?
Fuel (and core slot):
Different species could have different engines for their ships, using 2 of the three above noted resources as fuel, with benefits to each. For example, a water world, producing deuterium, would offer cheap fuel, but with slower speed than a crystal powered engine from an inferno world. Then a player could research the other engine type if they wanted. Larger ships, with 2 or more cores, could then double or triple speed and range by incorporating more than one core.
Sounds interesting, but also potentially unbalanced, there's a discussion about different core types elsewhere already, I'm personally not sure the extra complexity actually adds useful gameplay features.
Weapon development:
Encourage development of like weapons, for example mass driver 2, by offering increased power with lower resource cost. Also, why not have some weapons more effective against different shield types? A mass driver may actually be more effective against a shield than an easily deflected plasma pulse, although the plasma would cause much more damage to unshielded or poorly shielded vessels.
Personally, I favour replacing the current improved parts with actually improving existing parts so if you research MD2 all existing mass drivers get the bonus, but it'd need a rethink of several core features that, for example, the AI. And it's been ruled out have shield piercing weaponry in the past because it adds complication that detracts from the sweeping strategy aspect of things—but it could be reassessed if anyone comes forward to work on the 3d combat.
Native growth:
Natives that can produce ships and colonise should be doing that more, perhaps they even become more powerful than combatants. When trading becomes a feature this would have even more relevance.
That would effectively make them additional AI empires, I like the idea but I also like there are main, Involved, species then less powerful unaligned worlds and similar that aren't set on galactic conquest.
Anyway, I think this project is fantastic and all the contributors deserve all the praise they get.
As do I, I can script some basic effects these days but the backend is completely beyond me.
Mat Bowles

Any code or patches in anything posted here is released under the CC and GPL licences in use for the FO project.

Vegavis
Space Squid
Posts: 71
Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:04 am

Re: Ideas for this great game

#3 Post by Vegavis »

RudyVW wrote:Very unhappy with the combat system, there doesn't appear to be any consistency. i say simply copy the Ogame style of combat, giving each ship a shot per round.
You're not alone. Excessively random combat is a common complaint, and this is a popular solution, so it may happen.
RudyVW wrote:3 types of resource [...] mines [...] more trade options [...] different levels of mining ability [...] different engines
All of these add complexity. More options generally make a game worse, because users have to learn them. They can be justified if they create difficult decisions, but this requires working out what the decision is and why it's interesting enough to be worth the complexity.
RudyVW wrote:Encourage development of like weapons, for example mass driver 2, by offering increased power with lower resource cost.
Upgraded weapons already do offer higher damage per cost — they do more damage but cost the same.
RudyVW wrote:Also, why not have some weapons more effective against different shield types?
Complexity. It would be nice to differentiate the weapons more, though; having 16 weapons that differ only in one dimension is a waste.
RudyVW wrote:Natives that can produce ships and colonise should be doing that more, perhaps they even become more powerful than combatants.
Wouldn't that make them equivalent to empires, except possibly that they wouldn't attack anyone?

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