Geoff the Medio wrote:There are solutions to this issue better than the current form of the production stockpile. Civ games let cities divert unneeded production into generating wealth.
Yeah, but we're probably going to have influence instead of trade. **
(see the bottom of this post) Having excess production produce social influence does not make the game more obvious or intuitive.
Geoff the Medio wrote:MOO had the planetary reserve, which was a stockpile without the location restrictions, but which was much less efficient that spending production at the location it was generated. IMO either of those mechanisms are better than the position-dependent stockpile access that FO has now.
So industrial materials have a
very short shelf-life, after which they transmogrify into something that's less efficient, but has an infinite shelf life and can jump blockades. This does not sound simpler nor more intuitive.
Geoff the Medio wrote:My objection is party that it doesn't seem to make intuitive sense, which is a realism-based player perception point, but an important one that does affect playability.
Yeah, but consider the non-intuitive nature of your alternatives. Industrial materials are not expected to have a 1 turn expiration date.
Geoff the Medio wrote:If there was a set of content that provided stockpiles only at one location, and other content the player could unlock to provide stockpiles everywhere, that'd be fine... perhaps good. I like systems where progressing through the game allows players to break or bend the previous rules that limited them. But in this case, there no opportunity to break/bend/advance.... rather than excitement at the fulfillment of the desire to overcome their initial limitations..
Except in previous discussion i though we've abundantly established that stockpiles everywhere would be an interface nightmare for the player.
From a game design standpoint i agree that it is good when "progressing through the game allows players to break or bend the previous rules that limited them." -- though i don't expect every rule to fall in this category. Though i would generalize it a bit more. What's fun it exceeding/breaking your previous limitations. The limitation doesn't necessarily need to be a rule.
However, a single stockpile setup can fall into this pattern.
* When you start you have a few system you can share resources with, and it is easy to expand your colonies beyond resource range. By building colonies, researching techs, and defending choke points you can build a much larger resource-sharing range.
* Stargates and Wormholes are probably later additions. If you can build these, it would unite the resource distribution range of of physically divided/blockaded empires.
* Stargates everywhere. It seems reasonable that a late-game tech could provide resource-shareing for
all planets, and make blockades impossible
Other Foci
Its been mentioned previously that Production/Research/Influence or Trade are not sufficient number of focus options. Some ideas:
Defense Focus:
I've long though that a defense focus would be good, since otherwise you are stuck with the uncontrolled increase of several meters to defend your planets. Setting a planet to "Defense" would:
- a) moderately increase the target of shields, defense, and troops
b) greatly increase the speed of movement toward the target value.
This is the focus you would want on a border planet where you expect an invasion. Or it could be used to repair the defenses of a recently ravaged (or captured) planet. Of course you get no production from a defense focus planet.
Trade & Influence Foci
I think i mentioned it earlier. If Growth & Mining become only occasional foci, there may be room for distinct Trade & Influence foci. Conceptually they kind of tread on each other's toes, but that may be because we've been thinking of one as a replacement for the other. Trade would make more sense as means to pay maintenance costs, and a trade focus might extend supply lanes. Influence could be used for the more purely social/diplomatic/espionage related activities. I'm not sure there's really room to make both well-developed, but there may be.