Oberlus wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 11:28 am
Variable Pressure Nanocoating
I missed where it is supposed to be unlocked in your version.
I dabbled a little bit with it, but finally I made a cheap tech (biomimesis) unlocked by Genetic Engineering, so very early in the game (for a +10 stealth bonus, the additional +20 bonus comes with Xenological Hybridization).
Oberlus wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 11:28 am
My thoughts:
I would tie it to Gas Giant Generation and Nanotech: unlock it with GGG tech (the technology to tap into GGs to extract its energy is also the one that allows the construction of ships capable of entering GGs) and give the extra stealth bonus with nanotech. Or change the nano name for something else and use another tech instead for the extra bonus if nanotech is too early in game.
Interesting fluff idea, but imho the part is more interesting (for the game, not necessarily for the player) as an offensive/ambush mechanism than as a defensive one.
That's why I made it not very Sly-friendly, and (in a much lesser way) there's a similar problem with tying it to GGG : it encourages developing this tech when one has Gas Giants to defend, rather than making the NanoValve part of an offensive strategy or of elastic defense.
It doesn't bring that much to the game to pile stealthy ships on your Sly capitol or on a GGG that you want to defend, compared to building a defensive matrix combining stealthy and regular ships to engage in a hide-and-seek deathmatch, or to operating a careful stealthy invasion exploiting holes in enemy detection.
Obviously I can't prevent the former strategy but I don't want to encourage it.
Also, unlocking it after Orbital Generation makes it appear quite late in the game, at a stage were Active Radar/Electromagnetic Damper can be unlocked.
Which means that the NanoValve will mostly be used in combination with Electromagnetic Damper, which reduces the strategic diversity.
I made it unlockable very early, so it's usable solo for a short time (but ships built that way are not necessarily useless after, since the additional bonus kicks in later) - and with some hulls, even after that (well, if the Continuuous Scanning Policy is rebalanced).
Oberlus wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 11:28 am
I would make the stealth bonus apply only when there is a GG that is unowned, or owned by the same or an ally empire (that is, not possible to hide within a GG where peace/enemy empires already have presence). I think it makes it more balanced and not so hard to counter.
Interesting, I have not considered that.
In a way you're right (about the balance/countering possibility), though I'm not sure I would be able to code that in FOCS.
I'm quite wary about making it a defensive rather than offensive device, though, as already mentioned.
Remember that if they don't came from another Gas Giant (and the speed reduction is there exactly to make that possibility rarer) NanoValve-bearing ships enter the system unstealthed, so they're not entirely uncounterable (cough - lighthouses - cough).
And fluff-wise, having enemy ships coming out of nowhere and diving deep into your Gas Giants to hide seem dramatic enough to increase rather than decrease immersion.
Oberlus wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 11:28 am
I don't like the nano valves fluff for speed reduction, I would change it for something about gravity wheel of the GGs slowing down the ships, and apply it only when they have the stealth bonus (they started turn within a GG), and make the speed malus a -20.
If it is called coating, I expect it to occupy an external slot. Changing the name to something related to a gravity field that keeps a bubble of regulated pressure or something like that (and then tie the extra bonus to the first tech of shields or maybe gravitonics) would make much more sense to me. Being internal means that it is better for organic hulls. Should we prefer to give it more use in robotic hulls, it could be make external and keep the coating fluff.
Fluff can be changed, I'm not necessarily the best at it.
I like the bio-mimesis idea though.
Also it works well with making it Sly-unfriendly.
About making it External, I have to say that I never considered it, as the idea came originally from your remark (if I'm not mistaken) that we don't have enough variety concerning Internal parts.
But why not indeed, especially for usability with other Hull lines.
The lack of variety in internal part will still be a problem though in that scenario.