collecting ideas for new fields

[The Silent One]

Having recently redone some field/nebula graphics, I thought it would be fun to have a larger variety of fields in-game. They're not too hard to code (if you know some .focs), and I've put up an example here: https://github.com/TheSilentOne1/freeor ... nite_swarm, a nanite swarm that heals ships near it. Let's create some more fields! Write down all your crazy field ideas here, and then let's select the best ones and put them in the game.

[Oberlus]

Space/Meteor Blizzard
Ships within the field receive some damage per turn.
If shields are ignored, ok, but then two fields would be worse for shielded ships than for unshielded.
If shields are not ignores, ok too, but seems interesting to me that shielded ships would have an advantage in such fields.
I think this should be faster to dissipate than other fields, to avoid being too harsh on static fleets.

Void Rift
Ships can't pick starlanes that are affected by this field. Ships trapped within this field have their speed set to zero (so if caught in a starlane, they will be stuck in there until field goes off.
Alternatively, travel could be allowed but at a big loss of speed (-80%, or -60 or similar). Or this could be a different field.

Hidrogene Cloud
Fuel resupply for ships spending a turn on a system affected by the cloud.

Electromagnetic Fog
Something to disable/hinder fighters but not guns with the rationale that fighter maneuvering/comunnication/organisation is crippled.

[The Silent One]

Meteor Blizzard (phoenix asteroids )

[The Silent One]

Updated branch above with meteor blizzard. Besides the damage, I gave it +1 research per ship in storm (zealous observers) so empires low on research may actually want to put some sturdy ships in there to generate themselves some RP.

[labgnome]

Gravity Well
Found around Neutron Stars or Black Holes. Increases speed by 4x for approaching ships, decreases speed by 1/4x for leaving ships.

Psionic Field/Psionic Rift
Reduces shields to 50% on ships of regular species. Reduces shields to 25% and causes hull damage for ships of telepathic species.

[The Silent One]

Gravity Well
Found around Neutron Stars or Black Holes. Increases speed by 4x for approaching ships, decreases speed by 1/4x for leaving ships.

I think that's currently not possible with FOCS.

Code: Select all

stackinggroup = "METEOR_BLIZZARD_SHIP_EFFECTS"
            effects = [
                SetStructure value = Value - Round(MaxStructure * 0.1)
                SetResearch value = 1
            ]

This isn't working, is there a way to round in FOCS?

[The Silent One]

This isn't working, is there a way to round in FOCS?

Solution was that I needed to put "Target." before MaxStructure:

Code: Select all

SetStructure value = Value - (Target.MaxStructure * 0.1)

[labgnome]

Gravity Well
Found around Neutron Stars or Black Holes. Increases speed by 4x for approaching ships, decreases speed by 1/4x for leaving ships.

I think that's currently not possible with FOCS.

That's a shame. I would like a "falling in" effect for black holes and neutron stars.

Then what about a time dilation field that just slows speed?

[Oberlus]

That's a shame. I would like a "falling in" effect for black holes and neutron stars.

Then what about a time dilation field that just slows speed?

Something like the effect of the Spatial Distortion Generation, but with the effect reversed so that it attracts instead of repeal (search for "DISTORTION_MOVEMENT_STACK" in advanced_focus.macros)

That way ships fast enough would not be affected.

If we want all ships to be affected, maybe a mixture of that FOCS code (to differentiate if the ships is approaching or leaving the system), but instead of moving the ship (MoveTo/MoveTowards), changing its speed, and not by a fixed amount but multiplying/dividing it.

[Ophiuchus]

Gravity Well
Found around Neutron Stars or Black Holes. Increases speed by 4x for approaching ships, decreases speed by 1/4x for leaving ships.

I think that's currently not possible with FOCS.

Why not? You can check what the next target system is and I think also how far the distance is; then you boost speed for a slingshot with it.
Also you can check if you are in that system or if that was your last system and maybe even how far the distance is you covered.
Of course if your ship is fast enough you just pass by without effect.

But the main problem with such a change is that this is totally not accessible to AI.

[The Silent One]

Why not? You can check what the next target system is and I think also how far the distance is; then you boost speed for a slingshot with it.
Also you can check if you are in that system or if that was your last system and maybe even how far the distance is you covered.
Of course if your ship is fast enough you just pass by without effect.

I didn't know that, my FOCS only goes so far. Thanks for the heads-up.

But the main problem with such a change is that this is totally not accessible to AI.

Which actually is a(nother) good reason not to go overboard with field effects.

[LienRag]

Having geographical diversity is very important for a strategy-oriented game, providing judicious use of geographical differences as an alternative to just sending stacks of ships against stacks of ships and seeing who was able to optimize the spreadsheet the best.
And clouds have the very interesting particularity of being a geographical diversity that moves around the map, making them one of the best features of FreeOrion imho.

So yes, especially if the back-end allows for them (we don't need to have the AI good at using them, we only need to have the AI not getting suicidal around them), yes having more of them is a very good idea indeed.

I love the way Molecular Clouds worked especially, even more before Fighters were introduced, when Shields ruled the game : by providing a small subset of space where Shields were worthless, it allowed for very different strategies and opportunities to reverse the strategic dominance of a Shield-oriented Empire if one planned well enough.
That's this type of effects that we should aim for imho (of course if someone comes with more original ideas that brings interesting gameplay it's even better).

So, in the same idea than the Molecular Clouds :

- Dark Matter Predators : No Space Monster (tamed or not) can enter them, none can spawn nor mutate in them. Those already inside can move only if it brings them out of the cloud in one jump (how many turns this jump represents) and have 1/4 of their attack points (they're scared).

- Voidless Bubble : No Void-related technologies work inside them (meaning Zero-Point fuel generators ships have no fuel; I don't remember the other Void-related techs right now so can't explain what this field would mean for them).

- Gravity Distortion Field : Mass Drivers do half (or one quarter) usual damage. Maybe Self-Graviting Hulls can have half speed too ? Fighters would launch only on third turn ?
It's possible to have High-Density Particle Clouds that hinder Lasers in the same way, and similar fluff for Plasma and Death Rays.

- Hyperspatial Deadzone : No regeneration of fuel nor hull structure in them, no organic growth either.

- Baryon Storm : No repair for the Robotic Hull line (maybe it can also be the one that halves Death Ray damage ?).

- Quantic Perturbation Area : Drydocks cannot repair anything (Logistics facilitator neither). Maybe also Stargates focus is not available (neither send nor receive)?

- Psionic Bloop : All Organic Hulls get +10 Stealth

- Space Sentience : All Organic Hulls get +30 detection range

- Comets Cloud : All Asteroid Hulls get +20 Stealth and - 20 Speed

- ExtraDistortion Sensibility : Distortion Modulators and Lighthouses double their effect.

- InterStellar Winds : Space Elevators and Logistics focus have no effect.

- Harmonic Calm : Psionic Species have +20 Detection Strength

- Boson Rainbow : Energy Hull line ships have +40 speed (obviously useless if small cloud, much more interesting for big clouds). Maybe use this one to halve Plasma damage ? Or on the contrary give them +10 bonus (so that Quantum Plasma Frigates will crush everything in their path) ?

- Void interference : No stockpile transfer (neither adding nor subtracting from it) for planets in it.

- Trans-Dimensional Call : +5 Happiness (or -5, or we can have both types of clouds)

- Space Sirocco : provokes trouble on unstable planets (I don't know how stability will work so I'll let those working on it elaborate on the exact mechanism). Specifically, it's different from the one before in that it doesn't provoke instability, it just makes the consequences of instability worse.

- Gaïa Seeds : Protection focus is not available

- Space Pixie Dust : Phototropic species get +0,3 Production per population inside the cloud (or maybe the bonus could be modulated for star brightness ? I have no idea on how to balance it).

- Chandrasekhar Field : Fuel efficiency above 1 is doubled, below 1 is halved. Needs to be big to be useful.

- Intra-particle Conductive Cloud : Arc Disruptors double their number of shots, shields are halved, Xantronium Armor gets +10.

- Asynchronic Gravitic Oscillations : Stealth Outposts and Colony Ships can colonize planets even when enemy ships are present (if said ships cannot detect them). Maybe add a -20 to Stealth so that it's not that much overpowered ? If the clouds are small enough, travel slowly and are rare, I think they can make the game funnier without putting it off-balance too much.

- Dephased Space Fractalization : Fractal Hull ships on Passive stance can pass any system (even blockaded) if they don't stop in it.



Is there a way to have bigger Ion Storms sometimes or would it be too overpowered ? I have trouble to figure it by myself...

Note that these clouds should move at different speeds to be more interesting (never too fast obviously). That means handling collisions, but I guess that can be done with a priority level : the cloud with the lower priority is either hidden (its effect not applying) or absorbed (destroyed) by the cloud with the higher priority.

[LienRag]

And of course after the discussion on mines:

Gravitic Waves Anomaly Field : Mines do not work inside the field.