Suggest - Features and Improvements

[nweismuller]

How understaffing works: consider each improvement to be 'fully staffed', 'partially staffed', or 'unstaffed'. If you have a planet with a population of 5, the first factory on it would be fully staffed (as each factory requires 4 population to staff), the second would be partially staffed, and the third and subsequent factories would be unstaffed. Fully-staffed improvements provide their full output. Unstaffed improvements provide the minimum value of output indicated for their level and type, plus any flat bonuses from special resources or technologies like Fusion. Partially-staffed improvements provide a value between the full and minimum values that I'd need to look out to figure out; it's only a single value, however, so increasing that planet's population to 7 will have the partially-staffed factory still providing the same output. Notable that staffing is based on full population units, and so mines are never 'partially-staffed'- each mine is either working at full or half productivity due to labor availability.

[zolobolo]

Suggestions for random events as there seems to be only a few of them at this time:
1. Diplomatic/espionage incident with a faction with which the player has a natural +-20 relationship
2. A Super Dred arrives at a planet. It has left the warplane during the war and needed to trust itself towards the nearest planet. It should arrive in mid-game, and start destroying every base around it for all factions until destroyed or captured (as it is following its last orders )
3. A rebellion breaks out for another faction, but promptly defeated, some ships and civ transports head towards are fleeing. Other empires can:
- Give them a home and getting a HUGE relationship penalty from the source empire in turn
- Destroy the refugee fleet and thereby getting a small relationship boost + some money + the ships that they could capture
4. Star harpies are flooding a couple of star systems, where large battles have taken place. These are carnivore harpies and are apparently attracted by the food floating around in space after the engagements They are more ugly, aggressive, tough and numerous.

All events should occur rarely so to not make them boring, hence the need for more of them
A main goal of any event needs to be that the player is not directly benefits from them as it makes the game easier, and gives the feeling that the AI and player are not playing the same game.

For the same reason: Recommend to change the Phidi exchange pop event so that it gives the player a negative impact towards all other empires to offset the bonus pop with high money generating capability. Otherwise there is no need not to accept the incoming free pop and feels like a handicap for the human event though not needed

[zolobolo]

It is currently not visible where the player exactly has colonies when zoomed out, and not easily visible when zoomed in
This is due to the name of the system only taking over the color of the first colonizer.

How about this?: Color the name of the system gradually. Each segment representing an empire that owns a planet there.

e.g.: If two empires have each a planet in the system, and the system name has 6 characters: the first 3 characters will be colored for the first empire and the last 3 characters to that of the second empire

This way , it would always be clearly visible who owns what and where

If there are 3 or more empires in the system, the name is segregated into three or four segments. As there can only be max 4 planets in any system, the mechanic could not be brought to its limits, as it only needs to accommodate maximum 4 colors and there are no system names with less then 4 characters.

[bjg]

Could you create a topic to ask questions about the development changelog items?

[blazenclaw]

... If there are 3 or more empires in the system, the name is segregated into three or four segments. As there can only be max 4 planets in any system, the mechanic could not be brought to its limits, as it only needs to accommodate maximum 4 colors and there are no system names with less then 4 characters.

Might have some trouble with custom names (if player renames a system P1, T1, M1 or so on), but yeah, I've never seen more than 2 different empires sharing a system.

Also, Tyl exists (albeit with 2 planets) so there is at least one system with <4 letters; implies possibly more?

[username]

For the same reason: Recommend to change the Phidi exchange pop event so that it gives the player a negative impact towards all other empires to offset the bonus pop with high money generating capability. Otherwise there is no need not to accept the incoming free pop and feels like a handicap for the human event though not needed

Why would other empires have a negative impact towards the player because of this, though? There's no logical reason why someone would become so upset about it. If there's any drawback, it should stem as a direct, logical consequence of having a Phidi population: A population that will react negatively to any anti-Phidi actions in the future and will, as their numbers grow, start asking for pro-Phidi things, essentially becoming a Phidi invasion from within.

[zolobolo]

Why would other empires have a negative impact towards the player because of this, though? There's no logical reason why someone would become so upset about it. If there's any drawback, it should stem as a direct, logical consequence of having a Phidi population: A population that will react negatively to any anti-Phidi actions in the future and will, as their numbers grow, start asking for pro-Phidi things, essentially becoming a Phidi invasion from within.

Other AIs would dislike the player for the reason of being such good pals with the Phidi. It is easy to get on the good side of the Phidi, and they give huge bonuses: free pop, trade agreements + mercs which are a whole game winning bonus in themselves.

To set this off, we could assume, that other mayor players are aware of this:
"We have noticed that you are rubbing shoulders with those money-grabbing horses. Enjoy your wealth until we come and take it from you... queue pirate resembling laughter"

It is also easy to display during the decisions prompt:
1. Accept: bonus pop + diplomatic penalty with all other races
2. Deny: Diplomatic penalty with the Phidi + Optionally: diplomatic boost with all other/ or their enemies if any

Invasion mechanic from within would be nice of course, but more difficult to implement and would be an indirect effect. Events should be self-contained in my opinion with clear decisions if for no other reason, then due to the effort needed to develop them. An event like scrapping or using a ship shows you what the result is going to be, in case of the Phidi exchange I just do not see any other option except for a single beneficial one. If an invasion within would occur, how would you display that in the prompt properly?

[zolobolo]

... If there are 3 or more empires in the system, the name is segregated into three or four segments. As there can only be max 4 planets in any system, the mechanic could not be brought to its limits, as it only needs to accommodate maximum 4 colors and there are no system names with less then 4 characters.

Might have some trouble with custom names (if player renames a system P1, T1, M1 or so on), but yeah, I've never seen more than 2 different empires sharing a system.

Also, Tyl exists (albeit with 2 planets) so there is at least one system with <4 letters; implies possibly more?

How about specifying a minimum number of 4 characters for system names?
Some similar number must already exist as a system cannot have a name with 0 characters either

[zolobolo]

A Unique starting building per race to slightly speed up the start of the game, give a bonus to those who capture their home planet, and make them stand out even more emphasizing the affinity of the race e.g.:
1. Holy Imperial Palace for the Ashdar Imperials. This magnificent fortress complex of the last great imperator: XY contains numerous secret underground tunnels and bunkers connecting the dozen city-sized citadels. Provides:
- Imperial treasury produces: 15 Coin
- Underground bunkers: Bonus defense against planetary bombardment

2. Settlement: New Hope for Humans: The first planet the Humans settle will establish their first planetary colony serving as a beacon of hope for all Humans scattered around the galaxy. Its makeshift walls are built from the oldest vessels serving as home for the refugees and is now the center of Human culture, as refugees and pilgrims from around the galaxy are pouring in to witness the new beginning for Humanity. Provides:
- Human cultural heritage district: 15 Research
- Refugee coordination center: Human Refugee colonies will automatically join the empire who owns this building when met

3. Great Pyramids for Gremak: These huge feats of Gremak engineering and slave labor serve as a gruesome reminder what one can achieve if others put their backs into it. The Pyramids host emperors most deserving of the title Great as they scratch the upper layers of the planets atmosphere. No one may doubt the undeniable benefits the Gremak Society gains by cultivating its rich traditions of forced labor as they look upon these giants. Benefits:
- Great tombs for the fallen slaves: Each slave action yields +50% more benefits (force labor and research)

etc. in this fashion for the other races:
East Galaxy Mining Company HQ for Yoral
Space Elevator for Ashdars Colonials
Market of a billion stars for Phidi
University of the Universe for Orthin

Edit: This mechanic could be used to apply faction bonuses instead of having these as flat bonuses
As they would be thus anchored within the game itself, they can be played around with. e.g.: upgrades to these building can increase bonuses, they can be destroyed, or used by others. All faction specific "traits" would be translated into unique tech, pop production values, special building - all justified and lore friendly elements of a specific party instead of a disembodied bonus

[zolobolo]

Does it make sense to set production to 0 when assigning project?

Sure, the production is converted into another resource which is hence increased, but production technically stays the same...

From a player perspective it does not have added value to set it to 0, as it is already visible via a nice picture what is being produced, but it would help seeing what the actual production is even when a project is ongoing so that the player can evaluate if it would make sense to produce something else (e.g.: if manufacturing output is high enough to produce Transports or battleships instead)

[Arioch]

Does it make sense to set production to 0 when assigning project?

Sure, the production is converted into another resource which is hence increased, but production technically stays the same...

From a player perspective it does not have added value to set it to 0, as it is already visible via a nice picture what is being produced, but it would help seeing what the actual production is even when a project is ongoing so that the player can evaluate if it would make sense to produce something else (e.g.: if manufacturing output is high enough to produce Transports or battleships instead)

If you view wrenches as "labor" rather than production (which I think we should do), then it makes less sense to zero out the value when a non-production task is set.

The "potential" production value is what's shown in the Planetary Report, if that's what you want to see.

[zolobolo]

Does it make sense to set production to 0 when assigning project?

Sure, the production is converted into another resource which is hence increased, but production technically stays the same...

From a player perspective it does not have added value to set it to 0, as it is already visible via a nice picture what is being produced, but it would help seeing what the actual production is even when a project is ongoing so that the player can evaluate if it would make sense to produce something else (e.g.: if manufacturing output is high enough to produce Transports or battleships instead)

If you view wrenches as "labor" rather than production (which I think we should do), then it makes less sense to zero out the value when a non-production task is set.

The "potential" production value is what's shown in the Planetary Report, if that's what you want to see.

Note sure if there is added value in introducing a new concept as it is not used anywhere else. There are no "labor" effecting modifiers that I have seen.

Coming with a simplistic view, production output is the capability of the planet to produce things. If it is producing research (by creating lab equipment and such) then this increases research but the production capability does not change

But even more important is the question: "What does the value serve"? Is it meaningful and even more importantly: helpful to show this value as 0 for the player? Yes this value is always shown in the colony list, but that is a different menu altogether which does not highlight the currently selected planet (and by not showing the same values it is also in-consequent - though it is more obvious why a 0 value there would be a problem )

Speaking for myself: I sometimes browse through the colonies via arrows to set things as there is more information available on this window as in the colony list. If a project is being produced, the production value is not visible, so I need to select something else to see that value and determine if it is ready (due to pop growth for example) to produce ships. I never had a scenario where seeing the value 0, I could decide on any in game-action.

[Jorus]

1. allow production queuing for a ship refit to include "to current design" as an option.
2. different galaxy shapes. It makes a big difference if you are in a corner or not in today's rectangular galaxies.
3. Still would like a tech tree in the game. There are several techs that are critical to get to asap, and w/o a tech tree one can get bogged down.

J

[zolobolo]

New artificial planet icon is like the one warning for low mineral value on a planet, or has that icon been removed? Haven't actually seen it for a while...

How about an icon that shows that the planet would actually be built.. like wiki wikipedia logo without the puzzle pieces...

[zolobolo]

Icons showing buffs and debuffs for troops on the ground invasion screen at the upper right corner of the troop
e.g.: from the description of one of the re searchable techs it is visible, that there is a base debuff for the attackers and shuttles desc also points to the possibility to remove the above debuff

A tiny green shuttle icon could be displayed for the advantage the craft gives and a tiny red planetary icon for the rebuff of invading

Displaying the above would make the ground invasion more transparent as well as interesting as the player would see what parameters are affecting the assault.

If later, additional modifiers are introduced (such as a faction trait that gives combat boost ), they can be easily and stylishly displayed via this method