New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

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

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Oberlus
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New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

#1 Post by Oberlus »

System special created at universe generation. Should be roughly as rare as a neutron star with planets.
Effects:
- Objects in that system have +20 stealth.
- Industry-focused colonies in that system get +0.5 bonus per pop.
- Building "WeirdNameHere Collector" allows the Empire to mount WeirdNameHere cannons on their ships (both unlocked with some late game tech, maybe in the neutronium branch). The part would be to SR weapons what Neutronium armor is for armors, more powerful than last tier weapon but not so cost-efficient.

Inspired by that Neutronium Cannon from Vezzra's weapon rework in 2013.

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Vezzra
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Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

#2 Post by Vezzra »

I like that idea. :D

Can you create a feature request issue on github?

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Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

#3 Post by Oberlus »

Sure. I'll work out the details too (subject to debate).

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labgnome
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Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

#4 Post by labgnome »

Maybe "Dark Matter" nebula and "Dark Matter" cannon?
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Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

#5 Post by Ophiuchus »

Maybe some name which does not sound like a field?
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Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

#6 Post by Oberlus »

It being a system special instead of a planet special gives it some flavour, compared to the neutronium armour.
I can't think of system specials apart from that sort of unobtanium molecule cloud thingy. We also have the acretion disc, I thought of this one as something similar to it. But anything you come up with, not related to clouds, could work.

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Vezzra
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Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

#7 Post by Vezzra »

"Crystallized Dark Matter Infestation"?

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Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

#8 Post by Oberlus »

Vezzra wrote: Sun Mar 01, 2020 1:17 pm "Crystallized Dark Matter Infestation"?
I like this idea.

I still think it is cool to make it a system field (Ophiuchus), for flavour and to allow different empires in the same system to use it.
From my experience in allied multiplayer games, having to compete for something instead of being able to share it gives some spice to it, so I would make it non-shareable: if more than one player in the alliance wants it, each one will need a planet in the system. This could encourage moving planets into that system.
Also, for more spice, I would make it so that the special weapons can only be built in that system (so non-exportable, differently of what one can do with the Neutronium parts). This also makes sense with the above. This would encourage using Stargates in that system to move newly-built ships to where they are needed.
I don't think any of this can be considered micromanagement.

Regarding the weapon, and since we already have rather powerful weapons that become quite inefficient against small hulls, it should be a multishot weapon.
That "Infestation" part of the name makes me think of some sort of tiny bastards. This in turn makes me think it should not be affected by pilots trait because the "bullets" have some sort of will of their own. Damage per shot should be high enough so that shields are useful against it but not a hard counter.
Also, it seems nice to give it a small fleet-wide stealth bonus much like the Sentient Hull.

I envision two versions of this weapon, only one to be selected (please, post what you prefer and why):
  • A 3-shot external part, "Crystallized Dark Matter Launcher", that requires a core part as the ammo storage:

    Code: Select all

    Part
        name = "SR_DARKMATTER_INFEST_CANNON"
        description = "SR_DARKMATTER_INFEST_CANNON_DESC"
        class = ShortRange
        mountableSlotTypes = External
        damage = 20
        shots = 3
        buildcost = 80 (like 1.33 DR)
        buildtime = 8
        tags = [ "PEDIA_PC_DIRECT_WEAPON" ]
        location = And [
            OwnedBy empire = Source.Owner
            Contains Building name = "BLD_DARKMATTER_INFESTATION_PROCESSOR"
        ]
    
    Total damage 60 (like 2x DR4), so that makes it more cost efficient than DR4 when considered alone (shields aside). But this changes with the required core part, below.

    "Dark Matter Infestation Containment Unit" (the required "ammo" storage to enable the above launchers to operate):

    Code: Select all

    Part
        name = "SR_DARKMATTER_INFEST_CANNON"
        description = "SR_DARKMATTER_INFEST_CANNON_DESC"
        class = General // Is there a class part for ammo that isn't hangars???
        mountableSlotTypes = Core
        buildcost = 240
        buildtime = 8
        location = And [
            OwnedBy empire = Source.Owner
            Contains Building name = "BLD_DARKMATTER_INFESTATION_PROCESSOR"
        ]
        EffectsGroup
            scope = And [
                WithinDistance distance = 0 condition = Source
                Ship
                Or [
                    OwnedBy empire = Source.Owner
                    OwnedBy affiliation = AllyOf empire = Source.Owner
                ]
            ]
            stackinggroup = "DARK_MATTER_CONTAINMENT"
            effects = SetStealth value = Value + 20
    
    Mounting 6 launchers on the same ship makes the total damage/cost on par with DR4: 360 damage / 720 PP (less than 6 makes it less cost-efficient).
    This creates an interesting (IMO) trade-off: you need to add many launchers per ship to make it more cost efficient, but that also makes the whole ship design rather expensive and very powerful but short on armour (crystal cannon) except for the biggest hulls (Titanic, Solar, Scatered Asteroid).
    • A six-shot core-part that is both the container and the launcher, "Dark Matter Infestation Launcher"

      Code: Select all

      Part
          name = "SR_DARKMATTER_INFEST_CANNON"
          description = "SR_DARKMATTER_INFEST_CANNON_DESC"
          class = ShortRange
          mountableSlotTypes = Core
          damage = 20
          shots = 6
          buildcost = 240 (like 1.33 DR)
          buildtime = 8
          tags = [ "PEDIA_PC_DIRECT_WEAPON" ]
          location = And [
              OwnedBy empire = Source.Owner
              Contains Building name = "BLD_DARKMATTER_INFESTATION_PROCESSOR"
          ]
          EffectsGroup
              scope = And [
                  WithinDistance distance = 0 condition = Source
                  Ship
                  Or [
                      OwnedBy empire = Source.Owner
                      OwnedBy affiliation = AllyOf empire = Source.Owner
                  ]
              ]
              stackinggroup = "DARK_MATTER_CONTAINMENT"
              effects = SetStealth value = Value + 20
      
      Total damage 120, like 4xDR4, enough to kill 6 of most unarmored chaff, and 2-3 armored small/medium ships.
      This makes sense since the addition of the Arc Disruptor, because that weapon takes care of very small chaff pretty effectively and so the counter for Arc Disruptors are armored chaff. So this huge weapon coupled with some Arc Disruptors and/or anti-ship fighters seems to be a viable strategy (while few people ever uses the spinal antimatter cannon).
      I like much more the first version for the mentioned trade-off
    Disclaimer: the FOCS code snippets haven't been tested yet, they are just a bit of a Frankenstein monster.

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    labgnome
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    Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

    #9 Post by labgnome »

    Vezzra wrote: Sun Mar 01, 2020 1:17 pm "Crystallized Dark Matter Infestation"?
    How about "Dark Matter Nexus". Infestation makes it sound like something "alive".
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    Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

    #10 Post by Oberlus »

    labgnome wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 10:17 pm
    Vezzra wrote: Sun Mar 01, 2020 1:17 pm "Crystallized Dark Matter Infestation"?
    How about "Dark Matter Nexus". Infestation makes it sound like something "alive".
    What is that Nexus about? Like a Gateaway to the Void that connect this dimension with another quite strange but with dark matter?
    I need to understand it to see how can it be linked with the high end weapon that is intended to be build from it.

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    Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

    #11 Post by labgnome »

    Oberlus wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 10:37 pm
    labgnome wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 10:17 pm
    Vezzra wrote: Sun Mar 01, 2020 1:17 pm "Crystallized Dark Matter Infestation"?
    How about "Dark Matter Nexus". Infestation makes it sound like something "alive".
    What is that Nexus about? Like a Gateaway to the Void that connect this dimension with another quite strange but with dark matter?
    I need to understand it to see how can it be linked with the high end weapon that is intended to be build from it.
    Like a nexus of flowing "streams" of dark matter particles. It's a place where they occur in greater concentrations and can be harvested.
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    Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

    #12 Post by ThinkSome »

    What about just "high dark matter concentration"?

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    labgnome
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    Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

    #13 Post by labgnome »

    ThinkSome wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 12:29 pm What about just "high dark matter concentration"?
    Honestly that just sounds boring and does not sound very sci-fi.
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    Re: New Special: WeirdNameHere Nebulae

    #14 Post by Oberlus »

    The less boring, most interesting and most thrillingly-sci-fi name for now is the Crystallized Dark Matter Infestation. Hands down.

    The fact that it seems to refer to something alive is just great, certainly not against sci-fi, and gives a lot of fuel for the related fluff.

    Particularly, it allows to bypass the (realism-wise) inconvenient that dark matter is transparent to our matter, and so it should not be able to affect anything in any of the ways this suggestion is about (it should not be able to damage or to conceal our ships or planets). It is supposed to only have gravitational effects.
    From that "Crystallized" part, I imagine it as something that somehow is a mix of "normal" and dark matter, forming some kind of crystals. And from the "Infestation" part I see it as (guess what) some form of life, that must be harnessed/tamed in some way in order to get its benefits.
    BTW, there is life based on matter, and there is nothing to think that there could not be also a life based on dark matter. And we discovered it! Here in FreeOrion! (actually, we are not the first ones to think about it).

    Now I'm thinking this suggestion is falling short for such a cool name. The infestation implies some form of detrimental effect. Just the extra stealth isn't enough for that...
    Damage! They shall act like some form of system mines, harmful to everyone that stops in that system, even the owners of any colony down there. Something big enough to make it impossible to take possession of the system until mid or late game. So either a big mines damage that could destroy colony/outposts ships in a single turns, or a moderate mines damage and some medium size dark matter monsters that must be eliminated first (those could be the natural evolution of the tiny dark matter crystal beings that conform the infestation).

    Dude, this is so cool.

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