New species trait: Engines (ship speed)

For what's not in 'Top Priority Game Design'. Post your ideas, visions, suggestions for the game, rules, modifications, etc.

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LienRag
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Re: New species trait: Engines (ship speed)

#16 Post by LienRag »

Oberlus wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 7:15 pm We just need to not make a useless/flavour trait.
Well, Useless and Flavour are not at all the same thing in my understanding, and one of my goals in this new traits is actually to make "flavour" traits.

What a Flavour trait is in my opinion is a trait that doesn't drive the player's strategy, that maybe doesn't matter that much except in some situations or aspects of the game, without ever being unbalancing, and of course that hints at other possibilities than usual gameplay, even if they won't necessarily manifest in each game.

You will, I guess, never triumph against your enemy just because you have Acirema warships, yet it does makes a difference to have this small shield bonus, and in some (though rare) situations it may mean the difference between victory and defeat.

If, in a single battle of a whole game, having +10 speed allows a manoeuvre that would not have been possible without this bonus, then my goal is achieved : we have a trait that gives some flavour to a Species, that makes it sometime plays slightly differently, but which is not useless.

Not that I'm against bigger traits, but I don't believe that my mastery of the game is sufficient to balance them correctly.

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Oberlus
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Re: New species trait: Engines (ship speed)

#17 Post by Oberlus »

The "/" means "or" in this case.

wobbly
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Re: New species trait: Engines (ship speed)

#18 Post by wobbly »

I actually think +10 spd is noticeable, +15 certainly is, that's the difference between asteroid/medium/large hulls and the robotic hull/small hull. A fair few of the longer starlanes are between 90 and 100 uu. You notice if you have both organics and symbiots. The symbiot can make the jump in 1, the organic can't. +10 on a small hull is just short of an organic, +15 and you are matching an organic for spd on the basic scout.

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Re: New species trait: Engines (ship speed)

#19 Post by Oberlus »

Then I'll make it +10 per level. Great species would get a +33% base speed for asteroids or a +17% for energy hulls.

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Re: New species trait: Engines (ship speed)

#20 Post by wobbly »

Oberlus wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 8:38 am Then I'll make it +10 per level. Great species would get a +33% base speed for asteroids or a +17% for energy hulls.
Yeah do that and if it's meh.. then its just increasing a number to fix it. (or switching to a percentage)

Maybe good speed will compete with good weapons better on races with a double trait. A good detection race symbiot sees well without a radar part. Fast attack ships with good sight range are nice in there own sense.

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LienRag
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Re: New species trait: Engines (ship speed)

#21 Post by LienRag »

I'll probably play a test game next month (or even before), what would be the Species you'd advise giving this trait to ?
And with which level, of course.

Same question for the other traits I devised, by the by.

Of course for balance it'll be better if we can test these in next MP game, but at least I need to catch FOCS mistakes first.

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Re: New species trait: Engines (ship speed)

#22 Post by wobbly »

Some random combos of the top of my head. All debatable:

Laenfa: Great Engines, Great Detection, Bad Pilots
Scyllor: Good Engines, Bad Fuel
Gysache: Bad Engines, Good Detection, Bad Pilot

Edit: Alternatively Sly could fit that Gysache spot

Sly:Bad Engines, Good Detection, Bad Pilot
Gysache:Bad Engines, Good Fuel, Bad Pilot

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LienRag
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Re: New species trait: Engines (ship speed)

#23 Post by LienRag »

I'm not sure that a Playable species (rather than a Native, or an Extinct one¹) should have Great Engines ("Ultimate" in the macro, so +30)...

Also, Sly are the ones that have the most use of the Flux Bubble (maybe with the Laenfas). Due to the way its stealth works, the Flux Bubble Colony Ship is the ship that will benefit the most from better engines.

That doesn't necessarily mean that the game has to favor Sly Flux Bubble Colony Ships, but right now the Sly are extremely disadvantaged, so I would rather help them rather than disadvantage them. So, Very Good Engines maybe ?

I would also think that either Eaxaw or Mu Ursh should get Bad Engines as a balancing effect. Maybe Mu Urshes since Eaxaw are already nerfed by their Xenophobic nature ?

Would giving Acirema Good Engines be too much ?

Also, I intend to test all the new traits that I created macros for, so I'd appreciate suggestions for the mix : Engines, Ship Stealth, Miniaturization/Maneuvering, Situational Stealth/Maneuverability/Speed...


¹ Either Banforo, or one I would design if someone can write the fluff since I'm not very good at it. I'd like to put a mix of low-level boni for this new one (like Good Engines, Good Weapons, Good Stealth, maybe Good Fuel and/or Good Shields) so that they can be a viable alternative to Very Good Pilots while still keeping Misioria/Eaxaw/Mu Urshes competitive.

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Re: New species trait: Engines (ship speed)

#24 Post by wobbly »

I don't picture Sly as fast, which doesn't mean I wouldn't adjust to it if they were a fast race, I just don't see it as a natural fit. Also not convinced of the "extremely disadvantaged", outside of the detection being a little too easy at the moment. That needs to be fixed by fixing stealth not something else. Apart from that they often get a crazy amount of good worlds. I can see how many you started with in your area in the MP game and there were a lot near me too. I probably have more Sly colonies then Replicon.

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New Navigation Species

#25 Post by Daybreak »

I would like to see a navigtion species, maybe image could be a giant round eye.

Anyway when piloting speed would be increased by 20%, as they are able to plot a more direct route along the edges of star lanes, avoiding the edges of gravitational fields (or whatever devs make up).

see viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12354&sid=d92190fc9 ... caef270afa

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Re: New Navigation Species

#26 Post by Oberlus »

Daybreak wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 8:15 pm I would like to see a navigtion species, maybe image could be a giant round eye.

Anyway when piloting speed would be increased by 20%, as they are able to plot a more direct route along the edges of star lanes, avoiding the edges of gravitational fields (or whatever devs make up).
I think Good/Bad Navigators is great for the fluff of the speed species trait.

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