Command Ships, not actually control them

How does that sound?

Most of us do not want tactical combat in the game(including me). We don't want to control our ships. What about commanding them? Wouldn't it be cool if we could give out ganeral orders during the battle? Not very specific tasks. Just controlling their general approach and strategy of the battle.
This way you feel more in control of the situation but not too much. You really are the commander of your fleet! Not the pilot of every ship.

So what to you think? Could this work for an expansion? Will we be able to command in orser to conquer?
13,231 views 9 replies
Reply #1 Top
correction: command in ORDER to conquer.

sorry for double posting but it wouldn't let me edit.
Reply #2 Top
It might be nice to be able to override the default order of which enemy ships your fleets will target first when engaging the enemy, but I have not actually played the game to know if this is REALLY necessary or not.
Reply #3 Top
actually I would really like to be able to do 2 things with the battles if they havent already been implemented (i havent played the game yet)

1. Be able to choose which ship to destroy first (kill the deathstar and worry about the star destroyers later).

2. Be able to retreat from any and all battles then assuming the retreating side have faster ships be able to run away to friendlier territory. (this would be great incentive to research and manufacture fasterships with weaker weapons and/or weaker defense)

One gameplay aspect i'd like to see be implemented on a future expan or update would be cloaking technology and maybe a cloak detection technology (or just use the current sensor researches ) (it could also be used as another way to retreat from battles / run away)
Reply #4 Top
general orders can be good (destroy specific ship)
hitpoint on module too (destroy engines, type of weapon, etc .. )
crew management is maybe a little too complicated (with experience management)
Reply #5 Top
Targetting specific ships or modules is already entering the realm of tactical combat, since you're implementing basic tactics to gain leverage in a situation where your ships otherwise might have none.

Besides, the combat viewer itself appears to be designed exactly like that, as a viewer. I haven't played the Beta, so correct me if I'm wrong, but since ship combat is basically just a replay with all of the hit rolls pre-determined, it'd be impossible to code any tactical functions in the first place.

The only place Tactics have in a strategic civilization-builder like Galciv, is in the form of an arching tech tree dedicated to military doctrines. Such a tree would have multiple paths on schools of naval execution to liven things up, and ultimately the civilization with the better tactical doctrines would get a bonus in combat. The player, however, should never be in direct control of combat in any form, since as a controller, he should be removed from the combat personally.

You could look to any of the games based around the Europa Universalis engine to get a good understanding of what I'm talking about. Some would say that you implement "tactics" on a strategic level, which is an oxymoron. Even though the player may have overall strategies when it came to directing divisions and armies, he was still never in direct control of the actual combat that was performed in engagements.

Galciv 2 is essentially no different, only this game doesn't have war fronts, and fleets have to intercept and engage each other, like a naval or air force simulator.
Reply #6 Top
Well, i know that talking about new additions to the game when it's not even out yet is a bit silly. But it is a discussion board and we are... discussing right? Time drags if we don't.

Giving out some general orders doesn't need to be like: target this ship or destroy their engines first. They won't really need to be ordered during the battle, to avoid getting too tactical. You could select an pre-made battleplan, for example, before combat and the result of the battle would be directly affected by the plan you selected and the situation in which you applied it to.

Just tell me your ideas. If a feature like this were to be implemented how would you want it to work?
Reply #7 Top
i was thinking about this

if you have a command ship in a fleet then the fleet acts as one

other wise the fleet acts like it does now effectively each ship for itself

Reply #8 Top
Even Homeworld type commands would be nice...Defensive stance, offensive stance, neutral stance, Different formations, and a choice to either destroy the most ships in the opposing fleet, or go after the largest most powerful ship first, until destroyed.
Reply #9 Top
I think that controle over the battle would be a good thing
anyone remember startrek armarder that was cool!!!1
a mix of that and G CIV would inhance the game