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Author Topic: Option at game start: Civilization Decay Status  (Read 1656 times)

Zibywan

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Option at game start: Civilization Decay Status
« on: August 11, 2017, 12:35:43 PM »

Right now we have the option to select the age of the galaxy we're entering when we start a new game. It alters the game play, but only very slightly.

This option would heavily alter the way a player would interact with the core Starsector worlds by changing the availability of weapons, ships, missions, bounties, and the strength/pervasiveness of the major factions. The more the sector has decayed, the closer to collapse civilization as a whole is.

Options

Mild: The core factions are strong, their fleets are massive and well supplied, massive battles rage between fleets filled with capital ships and those not aligned with the major factions are footnotes at best. Missions are plentiful, but most of them are trade missions. A good, relatively safe environment for a new player to learn the game due to pirates being heavily suppressed, salvage being plentiful, and missions being common.

Moderate: The game as it is now.

Severe: High tech ships are more scarce, more d-mod ships see use, even in the fleets of the major factions. Weapons of a military caliber are uncommon, and even finding them on the black market is iffy. Trade missions are less common, but there are plenty of bounties and tech mining missions from factions struggling not to fall into anarchy. Much more dangerous than the regular game due to rampant pirate activity and weakened major factions.

Crippling: Civilization is near collapse. High tech ships are practically non-existent outside of the Tri-Tac corporations limited sphere of influence. Even their military market rarely sees high tech ships for sale. High grade military weapons are insanely rare, and finding them for sale is a miracle. Some times a player may find themselves trapped in a populated system for a length of time, due to the difficulty of finding even the most basic resources such as fuel. D-mod ships are the norm, and even the major factions struggle to scrounge enough supplies to field capital ships, or even more than a couple cruisers in their fleets.


I'd really enjoy seeing different descriptions for different things in these as well. Seeing the way the lore changes based on how far technology and civilization have slipped would be fascinating.

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Play how you want, just don't try to force your playstyle on the other kids in the sandbox. Balance around the casual so the game can survive.

Megas

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Re: Option at game start: Civilization Decay Status
« Reply #1 on: August 11, 2017, 03:05:12 PM »

Another option:  Growth
Reverse of decay.  All of the major factions are getting progressively stronger and building up their military for an epic and glorious free-for-all showdown.  (Factions are in a cold war, but they are trying to power-up enough to one-shot everyone else, and boy are they all trigger-happy and itching for a fight.)  When the war starts, it will be a clash of high-performance starships like many endgame battles.  Probably a warmonger's paradise.  Probably most similar to mild.

Honestly, the way the currently game plays, there is no decay at all.  Despite what lore might say, the sector is very stable.  In fact, the economy gets more stable as time passes and things that used to cost an arm-and-a-leg (like supplies) when you start a game become cheaper (with no change in market stability) by the time you hit the level cap.
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FooF

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Re: Option at game start: Civilization Decay Status
« Reply #2 on: August 11, 2017, 06:36:41 PM »

This would be awesome if it were emergent gameplay. Barring that, it's an interesting idea though it can't be done to the point that "I can't find supplies/fuel" because that's just...not fun.

On the other hand, it would be cool to see more resource/proxy wars. I really wish there was a system where all the major factions were represented and had constant fights. Valhalla kind of is this way but if it was taken up a notch or two, with major fleets smashing into each other, I'd be satisfied. If in the decay was severe or crippling, I think there would be more desperation to the point that there would be major actions over even meager resource pools and heavy escort for vital supplies.

Just seeing some sort of escalation would go a long way to making the sector a bit more desperate, as the lore suggests.
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