SEV discussion: Mines

[Chronon]

I have to agree with those who have argued that mines' usual military purpose is to slow down the enemy rather than destroy the enemy. Of course, space-borne mines may be a completely different thing than our present earth-bound mines, but I think the basic principle would probably still be the same. So, I think some kind of a movement penalty should be applied whenever a fleet hits a minefield that's not completely swept. Perhaps it should be related to the number of mines in the field. Something like for every 10 mines in the field the fleet loses a movement point.

I like alot of the ideas proposed here about minesweeping and random damage.

But, I also agree with Primitive that gameplay should be the primary concern for SE5. One of my biggest irritations in SE4 is mines (fighters and satellites are right up there, too). Unless there is a good (perhaps script it yourself?) minister for mines, in my view, the micromanagement involved in them really detracts from the flow of the game.

So, I hope they are kept as simple as possible from a usage standpoint. I would much rather design and build a fleet of my latest battlecruisers than fiddle with 100 mines at every warp point.