Disengage Button

[AngleWyrm]

Ok so some times the computer decides that combat has ended -- but I wasn't quite finished yet. So how about this:

Have an "End Combat" button, that starts greyed out. When the computer thinks combat can end because nothing significant is predicted, it lights the EndCombat button. Then the player has the option to immediately quit, or continue.

[Kana]

Yeah, but then this could be exploited, and not allow combat to end when it is supposed to end, like when retreating ships get far enough away to disengage, and such...

[Kamog]

One time in combat, the last remaining enemy ship was running away and had a big head start. My ship was slightly faster but it took a really long time to close within weapon range. The combat map kept expanding bigger and bigger, as seen by the view area indicated by the trapezoidal frame in the overview map getting smaller and smaller and planet in the middle getting smaller and smaller, too.

How does the game decide when to end the combat? In that particular battle, eventually my ship did catch up to fight the other ship, even though it took a really long time. What if the two ships have the same speed so they never get within weapon range, is it smart enough to know this?

[Spectarofdeath]

I've had that happen as well, it's a pain. However I have noticed that if the combat ends and you attack again right away (dont end the turn) you should start in the same positions you ended in, the same distance at any rate.

[Suicide Junkie]

I think the combat should be run to its time limit unless there is only allies remaining. There should be a border to combat too. The Infinite field sucks in practice.

[tmcc]

I disagree regarding the infinite field. One of the big changes from SEIII to SEIV was removing the ability to retreat. I think this is a good compromise between no retreat and being able to just jump over a line. In practice when the enemy is escaping I use 8x time until I'm in weapons range. Maybe viable options would be to allow time acceleration to 16 or 32.

Also as an exploit if combat ends before you catch the guy you can use the sector view to re-position your ships before you re-attack

[Captain Kwok]

Except repositioning doesn't work in simultaneous MP games - it doesn't remember the location of where you place ships. So a player can keep running away and eventually get all the way to your homeworld and glass it etc.

[tmcc]

Well if he is faster then he should be able to run away. Better put some defense on the planet.

I would like to see a change where running away puts you into the adjacent hex. Right now you can run away and still be in position to blockade. This doesn't make so much sense, the essence of a blockade is engaging and either running off or destroying the enemy's shipping.

[AngleWyrm]

If running away at equal speed or better, then there is no chance to catch up -- The faster ship determines the range of the engagement. So in this situation, the proposed EndCombat button would be available as a shortcut instead of waiting for the timer to run out.

I also like the infinite field much better than the previous version. In SEIV, retreating ships would just get stuck in the corner of the map, and be hunted down like fish in a bucket. Space is supposed to be big, and the infinite field does a great job of portraying that.

[dmm]

Movement during combat should cost some supplies. This would usually prevent someone from running away forever. (Of course, if the fleeing ship also had extra supplies, then it could escape for a long time. But then it would have fewer weapons.)