2 replies to this topic

[johnchm.10]

so i think i mentioned this in one of my other posts, but here might be a good place to put it as well, as ive had more time to develop the idea
so, the GUI has proven to be impossible to alter insofar as the source code hasnt been released, which has limited the amount of items on screen that you can have at any one time, this results in not being able to have a lot of ships being able to be built and in some cases, you wont be able to build some ships at certain planets

heres the idea

1. youve got the 5 classes of shipyards. my idea is to reduce the different types to 3. class 1 producing Fighters, Bombers, and Transports. class 2 produces Freighters, Corvettes, and Frigates. class 3 runs the Cruisers, Destroyers and Battleships.

2. each of the shipyard classes has 3 levels. each level can build 3 tech levels of ships. level 1 yards can produce level 0/1, 2, and 3 ships. level 2 yards produce level 2, 3, and 4 ships. level 3 builds level 3, 4, and 5 ships.

3. the yards will have some income due to their usage as repair stations, as neutral or trading vessels will need some repairs every so often

4. each level yard has advantages and disadvantages.
level 1 yards will build very quickly and inexpensively, while being the weakest of the yards in terms of firepower, and shield/hull strength, and having the slowest build times and highest prices of ships, the ships arent that advanced, and the base income supplied by the yard is the lowest.
each following level yard has better defenses, faster build-times and lower cost for the ships you were able to build in the preceding levels, you are able to build better ships, and you will have a higher income, with the downsides being that the yards themselves take longer to build and are more expensive.

5. for upgrades, heres how i would do it.
each yard has its own upgrading ability, but with a catch.
for the lowest level of ship producible, the yard can do all the upgrades.
next level, the yard can do 3/4 of the upgrades.
next is 1/2 of the upgrades
then 1/4 of the upgrades

there are of course benefits and drawbacks to this system
benefits:
1: allows for even planets that can support a small number of stations to more directly support your war effort, by allowing ship production, greater income, and still having decent defenses, if you only have limited build slots. like at Dagobah. that planet only has a single build slot, and its pretty much useless for anything other than a place to hide some reserve forces.
2: allows for more ships to be added, while not completely blocking out the production of some of the older craft. were going from 5 stations to up to 9 here. this allows for a greater specialization of ships. not every yard
3: allows for a more efficient use of the battleground. now that the need for an upgrade station at each planet is gone, you could use that slot for another Golan, shipyard, or trade station.

drawbacks:
it does complicate matters a lot.
1: you may need to partially re-do the tech tree, if not re-do it entirely
2: now that there are up to 9 stations, not including the Golans and the trade stations, things may get a little confusing for newer players
3. lots more code that would need to be added to make this work

there are probably more drawbacks to this system then i can think of, as i am not a modder.

if nothing else, its an interesting idea, and its not my call if this were to get into any release. if you want to use it and can get it to work, by all means, go right ahead.
dont want to use it, im not going to be offended.

[Phoenix Rising]

I don't feel like I've exhausted all possibilities for dealing with the GUI yet, so I'm not prepared to make major compensatory gameplay changes until that happens.

[johnchm.10]

ah. well, if nothing else, its an idea