IMHO all races shold be basically equal in tech terms in a high tech start. That is my definition of "balanced". Some races will have slight advantages over others at different points of the game in a non-high tech start, that is what it makes it so interesting. And some races will have advantages in some areas over other races, but be weaker in others. I like to call Space Empires a great big fancy game of "Rock, Paper, Sciccors." Nowhere is that more evident than in the area of cloaking.
What I think would be cool would be something like this.
This is not all my idea, I am just trying to tie up some different ideas I have read from others. Each racial trait would have it's own special cloak. This would be defeatable by the same level of that race's sensor, but would require one level higher of a standard cloak sersor, (Hyper optics, Tacheyon sensors.) Once you get to the higest level of racial cloak, a player that doesn't have that racial tech would have to research a new branch that would give them a specialized sensor capable of defeating that specific racial cloak. In this way the racial techs would have an advatage, as they should, they paid a lot in racial points for that trait after all, but that by the end of the game it will have evened out over time and after a lot of research, as it should.
Examples: ( Remeber all sensors scan at a level
one higher than their number)
Psychic Cloak, Psychic racial trait required. Personel trained in the ability of manipulation the sensory lobes of other intelligent races. Use of this tecnique can "cloak" a ship by affecting others awareness of it's presence. Also by means of telekenesis can affect mechanical and electronic equipment to the same effect. (This explains why it works on ships with master computers)
Psychic Cloak 1, can defeat Psychic Sensors at level 1, can defeat all other Sensors at a level 2.
Psychic Cloak 2, can defeat Psychic Sensors at level 2, can defeat all other Sensors at a level 3.
Psychic Cloak 3, can defeat Psychic Sensors at level 3, can defeat all other Sensors at a level 4.
Since the highest level of sensors scann at a level 4, at this point a Psychic Cloak 3 would be unbeatable by anything but a Psychic Sensor 3 (which scans at a psychic level 4). So we add a new tech area that is accesable by non-Psychic races.
Tech Area: Psionic Studies, research into the latent psychic abilities in all intelligent races. Concentration on devising tests to find individuals with greater than normal abilities and teqniques and devices for training and optimizing those abilities.
Component: Psionic Sensor. Personell trained in Psionic Studies and equipment used to focus and enhances their abilities. Cabable of detecting ships in the same system that are protected by a Psychic Shield. Ability: Equivalent to Standard Psychic Sensor of level 3.
Here's the catch, the Psionic Sensor
only defeats Psychic cloaking. So if skip the standard sensors and go straight for the Psionic sensor, or you will be suseptable to standard cloaking, and Stealth Armor.
This could be done for all the racial traits with suficent mumbo jumbo. It actually wouldn't be all that difficult to mod in, but I agree the AI would have a heck of a time dealing with it.
Geoschmo
[ 12 December 2001: Message edited by: geoschmo ]