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« on: March 14, 2015, 01:05:23 PM »
Pretty good poll. For me, it's a toss-up between different options but I had to go with a more dynamic game, representative of 'more things to do', which may well include construction and other stuff.
I don't particularly like the idea of planets being conquerable or easily turned; too often that I've played sandbox games like Warband where the political landscape changes so much by the time I'm done beefing up my character, it doesn't look like itself anymore. I'd rather have some stability and restrict player actions to a maximum of constructing starbases.
I -love- the idea of battles creating areas with wrecks in them.
Combat AI is pretty damn good; combat overall has already been polished to a certain degree and will probably only see fine-tuning and small additions, which is fine. Fleet smarts on the strategic overview however needs work.
Now we have markets, which are fine, but I feel that without more things to impact markets and more things that the markets in turn influence, they're a bit lacking and disjointed. Which brings me to..
Diplomacy! Pirate sieges, pacts and wars could drastically alter the mercantile landscape and provide more fertile soil for these 'trade events' that the current system is based around. Goods starvation is too predictable and too easily created by the player right now to keep it interesting.
Likewise deepening the game with options to pledge yourself to a faction, to do certain missions for certain individuals, with a framework that will have fleets and characters not only floating about killing each other, but perform a whole range of tasks that weave into the strategic game. Such as guarding an installation, spying on somebody, scouting, luring, taking prisoners, guarding trade convoys, invading worlds, meeting diplomatically, mining and sciencing.
Another very hands-on thing that reeks a bit of RPGness would be to have fleets occasionally drop a certain weapon with altered stats on it; nothing massively overpowered, but a prototype that roughly fits the faction that dropped it. Hegemony may drop a Double Flak with concussive payloads that add X of EMP damage. Tri-Tach may drop a HIL that does some flux damage to phased ships. Pirates may drop a missile system with higher agility and unpredictable tracking. Prototype Ship Systems (those that are software-based or not overly bulky) could similarly become a trade good rather than just costing OP. This also ties in with the crafting idea.
