earlier i posted about a way to change the combat system so that people would want to mix up the weapons more and make the defenses more useful... Idea for how weapons and defenses should work » Forum Post by Basilisk83 (galciv4.com) added a few things after the first post too that really makes it work well i think and still makes people want to change their weapon and defense setup to counter their opponents. i've been thinking more about this idea and how it would affect combat, and i really think that this could add a lot to the different fleet tactics that could be used and the different types of fleets that people could make while still allowing people to use basically the same fleet building tactics they do now if they want to and not adding too much complexity for those that dont want to deal with it. but since many people like the more complicated and involved combat, here are some different fleet setup options that would work well in this combat system, which includes all the different possible mixes of weapon types in one fleet along with good usages for the different ship roles. sry about the length and complexity of the post, but i just really think i've got something good here and want to share all the reasons why...
first, summary of weapon/def changes in this system:
-Missiles have longest range and do more dmg, lasers med range, kinetic short range.
-Point defense gives a % chance to destroy missiles and negate dmg
-Shields absorb a certain amount of dmg. gets high resistance vs missile dmg, and lower resistance vs beam dmg.
-Armor gives a % dmg reduction against the hull once the shields are down, with higher dmg reduction vs kinetic.
-First defense tech gives more defenses to all. maybe have bigger hulls get bigger starting defenses.
Different fleet setup options:
-Missile & kinetic- Kinetic are best at taking down shields, and missiles will to the most dmg when the shields are down, so this would be a great combo esp when having something like small interceptor fighters with high kinetic dmg go in first and take out the shields, while larger ships fired missiles from behind.
-Missile & beam- beam arent as good at taking down shields as kinetic, but still the same tactics as above could be used, and the beams would do more dmg vs the hull than kinetic once the shields are down, making both missile fleet builds useful and able to adjust to defenses.
-Beam % kinetic- go in quick and have kinetic take down the shields quickly and beam cut through the hull. this would be an esp good option for people who dont like having a % chance that their missiles will be destroyed and want something that involves a little less luck.
-Beam, kinetic, & missile- if you want to go through the trouble of researching all 3, you'll be rewarded will a good mix that can take down shields and hulls quickly even if the enemy has good defenses.
-Any one by itself- currently how things usually work. easiest to research. can get high % boosts to help counter defenses. more simple and easier to do for those who dont like the complexity of mixing the types, but still very effective with those % boosts until higher defenses against that weapon type are used, at which point you could just switch to a different weapon type like in the current system.
With a ranged system like this too, ships with longer range could try to stay out of range of the shorter range ships, making it possible to have things like bigger carrier and missile ships sitting behind with med beam ships in the mid and small kinetic fighters to get into close range fast. or having big ships with multiple kinds of weapons so they can stay more in the back but still have some good extra weapons for when ships get too close. or any kind of combo that people can come up with that they like. the smaller ships could have decent defenses for survivability, or they could just be packed with something like beams and/or kinetic and just worry about taking down shields and/or hulls. and with shields and armor being useful against everything more people will want to use them because people wont have to worry about the fact that those defenses might be useless for them. the point defense still might be useless, but point defense is all about that % chance in this system anyway and missiles hit hard when the shields are down...
some other ideas for this system include weapons and defenses that are a little stronger than regular, but are only 1 per ship. includes mixing the different types too, so, for example, you could have a 1 per ship item that adds to both your shields and point defense, which would give that ship really good extra protection vs missiles, a bit vs beams, and a little vs kinetic too. there could be all kinds of different combos that could work very well for many kinds of different ships. and with them being 1 per ship it shouldnt get too op, but should help more at the start for making more complex ships if ppl want to.
the main hope of this system is that it appeals to as many different types of people as possible, making the game more fun for as many different people as possible. simple for the people who want it simple, and more complex for everyone who's more into that, and everything in between. a system that really rewards players for researching different weapon/defense types, but still makes it viable to make basically the same types of fleets they're making already if they're already happy doing that and dont want to change things. but a system that also adds another layer of use to all the ship roles already in the game too, esp if longer range ships are trying to stay out of the range of shorter range ships and people are trying to do things like take down shields before missile volleys hit.
I hope any of this helps, love the game so far and ty to everyone who's been working on it, you guys rock!
