SE5, Tell Aaron what's on your Wish List

[David E. Gervais]

Originally posted by Kamog:
I wonder if SE5 will come with a scenario editor? That would be wonderful.

I grabbed this post from another thread and reposted it here. (where all good ideas should be.)

Thanks for the suggestion Kamog

Cheers!

[DeadZone]

Wit my suggestions I feel 2 & 3 MUST be in

Seeing as the way SEIV does it, is simply the only reason Ive NEVER finish a game, cos I dont like staring at a screen non-stop for hours on end just watching things (unless its a movie)
And I dont have a g/f to occuipy my time while I wait

[Celegans]

My SE-V wish list items:

1. A Linux runtime!

2. Separate "jump drives" from sub-light drives. A jump drive component would be required to traverse a warp point, but gets you nowhere else. The sub-light drive gets you around the system but cannot get you through a warp point. The Highliner mod effects something like this, but its implementation is effectively a work-around for the fact that these two characteristics are combined together in SE-IV. Separating them would introduce interesting ship design possibilities such as the "System Ship" (ala MOO-3), or a Warp Conveyor that can do nothing more than shuttle non-warp-capable ships between two systems (the Highliner). What I like about this is that the system ships would be cheaper to build (no jump drive required) and have nore internal space for combat goodies (again, no jump drive required).

3. Pet peeve #1: Propulsion research should yield faster ships (every time).

4. Go a bit further with the synergystic facilities concept. SE-IV does this a bit (ie Robotoid Factories, Central Computer Complex). I'd like to see things that can only be created by combinations of facilities. For example, a Ship Yard facility, by itself, could create ships up to Destroyer size. A Ship Yard plus a Planetary Storage Facility allows the planet to make Light Cruisers. Add in a Space Elevator and now you can build Cruisers and Battleships. Toss in a Planetary Computing Facility and now you can make Dreads etc.

4.5 Pet Peeve #2: I'd like my ship's long-range scanners to be able to show me the details of a adversary's colonies (facilities, cargo). I think there was a missed opportunity here in SE-IV for interesting player strategizing. I would prefer, of course, to attack enemy colonies that host vital infrastructure.

5. Money. I would like to see money everywhere I look. Actually, I would like the modding capabilities to support the creation of arbitrary numbers and kinds of resources.

[David E. Gervais]

REPOST From another thread titled "SE5 Progress." Strange that Aaron makes a post on the forums and gets very little feedback. So, I'm transplanting it here to fuel the 'Wishlist' thread.

Cheers!

Originally posted by Malfador Machinations:
Hi All,

No, I haven't forgotten about you guys! Its just that some questions came up in the Yahoo list and I thought I'd answer them. Since I'm finalizing the data file structure, seemed a good time to get some feedback on the layout from modders.

Here's what I posted in Yahoo about the current layout of weapons in the data file:

Name := Anti - Proton Beam
Description := Focused energy beam used as a medium range weapon.
Picture Number := 18
Maximum Level := 100
Tonnage Space Taken := 30
Tonnage Space Taken Inc Per Level := 0
Tonnage Structure := 30
Tonnage Structure Inc Per Level := 0
Cost Minerals := 50
Cost Organics := 0
Cost Radioactives := 10
Cost Minerals Inc Per Level := 5
Cost Organics Inc Per Level := 0
Cost Radioactives Inc Per Level := 1
Supply Amount Used := 5
Supply Amount Used Inc Per Level := 0
Ordinance Amount Used := 0
Ordinance Amount Used Inc Per Level := 0
Can Be Placed In Ship Sections := Inner Hull, Outer Hull
Component Type List := Technological
General Group := Weapons
Custom Group := 0
Number Of Requirements := 2
Requirements Boolean Evaluation := AND
Requirement 1 Type := Empire Tech Area Level
Requirement 1 Name := Energy Stream Weapons
Requirement 1 Description :=
Requirement 1 Operation := >=
Requirement 1 Amount := 1
Requirement 1 Amount Inc Per Level := 1
Requirement 2 Type := Design Vehicle Type List
Requirement 2 Name := Ship, Base, Satellite, Weapons Platform, Drone
Requirement 2 Description :=
Requirement 2 Operation := None
Requirement 2 Amount := 0
Requirement 2 Amount Inc Per Level := 0
Number Of Abilities := 0
Weapon Type := Direct Fire
Weapon Target Type List := Ship, Base, Planet, Fighter, Satellite, Drone
Weapon Damage Min Point Blank := 15
Weapon Damage Max Point Blank := 20
Weapon Damage Min Dec Per 10 Rng := 5
Weapon Damage Max Dec Per 10 Rng := 5
Weapon Damage Min Inc Per Level := 0.5
Weapon Damage Max Inc Per Level := 0.5
Weapon Maximum Range := 30
Weapon Maximum Range Inc Per Level := 1
Weapon Damage Type := Normal
Weapon To Hit Modifier := 0
Weapon To Hit Inc Per Level := 0
Weapon To Hit Dec Per 10 Rng := 10.0
Weapon Reload Rate MS := 2000
Weapon Display Effect Name := Beam
Weapon Explosion Effect Name := Explosion
Weapon Sound Effect Name := apbeam.wav
Weapon Beam Burn Color := 110, 177, 240
Weapon Beam Duration := 50


But it was pointed out that the weapon damage at range design is not all it could be. So I revised it a bit and came up with:

Weapon Type := Direct Fire
Weapon Target Type List := Ship, Base, Planet, Fighter, Satellite, Drone
Weapon Damage Type := Normal
Weapon At Range Distance Increment := 10.0
Weapon Min Damage At Range := 15.0 10.0 5.0 0.0 0.0
Weapon Max Damage At Range := 20.0 15.0 10.0 5.0 0.0
Weapon To Hit Modifier At Range := -10.0 -20.0 -30.0 -40.0 -50.0
Weapon Min Damage Modifier Formula := [%ListedAmount%] + (([%Level%]-1) * 0.5)
Weapon Max Damage Modifier Formula := [%ListedAmount%] + (([%Level%]-1) * 0.5)
Weapon To Hit Modifier Formula := 0
Weapon Reload Rate MS := 2000
Weapon Display Effect Name := Beam
Weapon Explosion Effect Name := Explosion
Weapon Sound Effect Name := apbeam.wav
Weapon Beam Burn Color := 110, 177, 240
Weapon Beam Duration := 50


So instead of those pesky Inc Per Level fields, we would now have formulas to come up with the new values. Of course, speed may be an issue, so it will require some performance testing once its in and working (no guarantees that formulas will survive that).

Progress is good on the game. The basic engine is up and running and I'm busy going through and getting screens working (which is a major time consumer with 50+ screens).

At present there's still a debate about Research and Intelligence. Right now I'm moving it back to an SE3 style with percentage allocation for research tech areas and percentage intelligence spending against each empire. With all the pros and cons, the final decider for me was that percentage allocation method greatly reduces the micromanagement (as you only need to visit these screens occasionally once the allocations have been set).

So if you have suggestions for the game, please post them. Nothing is set in stone, as the SE4 beta testers will confirm. SE4 changed radically during its beta test. And I do read the ideas posted here. In fact I copy all of the ones that catch my eye to a huge Word document.

Of course, I can't guarantee that everything will make it in. But even simple ideas can have a tremendous effect.

Aaron

[primitive]

2 Comments then David
1: Wow, everything I wanted for weapon options
2: Looks like the 4th resource: Money ($, �, Ductats) didn�t make it, which probably will make SEV just as shallow an empirebuilder game as SEIV is. Luckily the war part of the game looks like it will be even deeper than in SEIV.

[Fyron]

Hey, my feedback on the mailing list prompted half of the changes from the original method.

[Ed Kolis]

I asked for a lot of the same stuff too, mind you...

[TNZ]

Just a few questions about the �Ordnance Amount Used� entry.

When weapon components use this entry will they all use the some ordnance supply or can we have different ordnance supplies e.g. torpedoes, missiles, shell projectiles, energy?

Will we be able to have components that can make ordnance on bases and ships?

[psimancer]

i was placing my bases into a fleet to reduce screen and reading space worked great for me


if the formaation part had worked a bit better
allowing me to set a formation that affected the placement of my bases then that would have been absolutly wonderful

since i could then set up a formation like the diamond for my bases allowing them to provide combat support for each other instead of my defense base with 6 point defense cannons intended to protect my spaceyard being 8 spaces away with a max range of 5 works really well at preventing missiles and fighters ehhh

[Paul1980au]

Formations need a bit of expansion - id like to see the AI make better use of the formations and perhaps extend a learning ability to countre youre moves - it could "learn" how to play better against you - could it be possible to give it the ability to become smarter vs human players.

I guess the AI scripting will help us develop better computer opponents.