Make engines have an effect on combat

from GalCiv2 Forums
Something that has always annoyed me is that a ship with a motor and a few weapons always has a disadvantage to a ship with no motor and all weapons.

Having a motor should have a disadvantage in combat - however, I think it should also have a small positive effect so that the speed of the ship isnt just completly ignored in combat.

You could have a system where for each 1 speed that a ship has over the enemy, it gets a 10% chance of getting a free hit at the begining of combat or something.(or maybe a damage % boost to the first round or chance to hit/be hit %)

This then leads into my second thought - motor size (and possibly price) should be greatly reduced for tiny and small ships and slightly increased for large and huge ships.

This would a) keep smaller ships viable due to the new combat mechanic of taking relative speed into account and b) mean that people would actually use tiny and small ships as scout ships rather than wack a load of motors onto a cargo ship (something which is meant to be slow)

Now, I know that the combat mechanic part wouldn't be easy to implement but I really think it would be worth the effort spend on it and make the overall combat system deeper!
2,539 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ahh, but the ship with fewer weapons but engines can run away from stronger opponents with more firepower and no engines to fight another day!

I find that faster ships give me great tactical and stategic flexibility in waging combat. The choice is mine on whether to fight or not.

Having said that, I think there is merit to incorporating some sort of a "maneuverability" factor into ship tactical combat. Something like a thruster component that allows the ship to better avoid particle weapons (which are presumably slower), but have little or no effect on beam weapons. Something like this could further differentiate the strengths/weaknesses of each class of weapon.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Maybe a fleet with more ships combined movement points could try and disengage from the battle? Combined to remove the cheese with one uber fast ship and the rest lumbering dreaghnouts. And this would not guarantee escape from battle, only give a chance to do so. So that it could not lead to the point where a player escapes everytime when attacked.

Hmm did not think the situation with 10 fast little ship and 1 big dreaghnout. Quess the combined speed thing just dont work. So maybe just take account the slowest ship?
Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I agree with your basic premis - speed has a great affect on combat, both in the real world and in GalCiv. Properly used a small group of fast ships can take out a much more heavily armed and numerical force by concentrating all ships at a point of your choosing, then rapidly switch to another area to repeat the process. This rapid concentation of firepower is a winner every time against a slower AI who is forced to spread forces over a wider area, due to an inability to concentrate them in one spot fast enough.

I suspect scripting it into the combat screen would be stuff nightmares are made of, but it would add another realistic dimension to the game and compliment a common tactic against a numericaly superior AI.

Regards
Zy