Current state:
- system with 10 patrols station has the same bonus as a system with 1 patrol station
- pirate fleets that raid the system seem to scale of the players fleet and not the hostile activity meter -> makes patrol fleets kinda useless
- Pirates and Ludic path increase the same meter -> using tech becomes a disadvantage -> reduces the benefit of engaging in exploration
- relations with the luddic church seem to have no influence
- amount of pirate worlds have no influence
- position of ludic path and pirate bases have no weight on their influence
- pirate influence (10 + size - stability + pirate base in range) ranges from 3+c to 16+c, defense from 5 to 18, ludd from 0 to 25?, yet the hostile activity meter stack on that due to its negative stability modifier. Hence what happens is that if the luddic path gets triggered because you went over 7 point you immediatly are in a 11+c to 24+c situation at best and usually closer to 15+c to 28+c. Meaning that no matter how much defense you build, hostile activity will just go up and up.
- getting rid of all pirate planets does nothing for the sector
- Luddic faith is totally unaffected even if they lose all their worlds
Suggestions:
- separate pirates and ludds into separate meters (they are lore wise separate)
- make things stack so that the player has agency:
Defense Rating:
patrol stations +(insystem), military bases ++(5ly), command post +++(10ly), sensor relays +, stable worlds+(insystem)
Pirate Activity:
empty worlds(insystem), unstable worlds (insystem), pirate bases+(10ly), pirate worlds++(15ly), enemy faction worlds+(15ly)
base value added would be trade volume of all planets in system added up and devided by a factor. That way it scales with size and type of colony.
Ludic Activity:
empty worlds(insystem), unstable worlds (insystem),luddic path worlds++(20ly), luddic path bases+(10ly), ludic church worlds+(20ly)
still triggers at the same techpoints level, but instead of adding the tech score flat, add just the part over 7 permitted base points
- normal enemy spawn fleets in your system should depend on the meters and trade amount, not your fleet size
- event fleet size can depend on player fleet size
Effects:
- it now follows the simple logic of destroy enemy origins so that enemies stop coming
- player now has a reason to occupy more than just the best worlds in a system
- paying for defence becomes viable, hence you can make a fortress system if you want it to be defensible
- patrol fleets can actually deal with pirate fleets in your system
- finding Domain tech in exploration is again rewarding since you can use it without being forever stuck defeating pirate fleets
- makes the sector react to the player action in a way the player can feel (destruction of the luddic and pirate worlds)
- being at war with a faction has an actual downside now and isnt just a free capital ship delivery
- colonizing multiple close systems becomes more advantageous than far spread out colonies
- incentivises colonizing further out from the core to reduce the number of enemy worlds affecting the meter
Notes:
- unless I read the wiki I never knew you could pay off the pirates or the ludds, so that should be mentioned/suggested somewhere on the screen of the hostile activity meters
- Kanta really doesnt feel like anyone important in the game, so his ability to give a protection really is kinda strange. His base is just far too crappy and has no big fleets to indicate status. (The main quest has the flaw of saying that he is influencial, but not SHOWING it. Hence he feels like just another henchmen. ...oh right he was supposed to be a women, but since he doenst look or behave like one I always forget about that)
