1: Can you design modules? Aurora (by Pentarch, good luck googling "Aurora") is a favorite of many of us, and Aurora does a unique thing, allowing you to design modules themselves. Instead of just unlocking "Lasers lv 2" you instead research laser caliber, wavelength, recharge speed, etc, and then you design and implement the laser, so you can carefully tailor your tech based on your skills and playstyle. Something similar would be astounding, but understandably difficult. Aurora does overstretch the limits of complexity and micromanagement in many places.
StarDrive does not support individual module design, although technically I don't think it would be very difficult. I'm trying to strike a balance of customization with fun game play. While I think a lot of players would like the feature you describe, I also think it would turn people off if I made it a core gameplay concept. That said, my game is highly modifiable. All of the modules are simple XML files that anyone can edit, and I built the game from the ground up with this in mind. So adding modules is very simple both for me as a developer and for you as a modder.
2: How important are other ships? We have a collective fear that your flagship will be a powerhouse and nothing else matters. The current teaser shows a flagship fighting what appears to be another flagship with a few fighters nearby. We have no idea how other ships work and how they compare. Is this a "Call of Duty" game where an individual can decimate an army, or is this more balanced to where your flagship is only a bit more powerful than other ships? In other words, will non-flagships play a major role in combat, or will they be background units? Or: Assuming equal tech, how many regular ships would it take to destroy a flagship?
Flagships and regular ships are not in any way different. You design them all using the same system. You can get a new flagship any time you want by building a newer, better ship and just designating it as your flagship. I have considered limiting the amount of times you can change your ship by having a cost associated with doing so. I really want the player to feel ownership of the Flagship. The only thing that makes your flagship more powerful than other ships is the fact that you are driving it. Of course, most players are going to reserve their most bad-ass ship for themselves! Building a high-tech dreadnought is going to take more resources than a lower-tech dreadnought, or a smaller frigate, or what have you. I am expecting that the players will want to use their most powerful ship as their flagship.
3: Can you design other ships and planets? Again, lack of information, but it's unclear if other ships are made from stock or if you design them yourself. Based on some quotes I'm guessing that you can design every ship, not just your flagship (or leave it to the AI to design?) so you can better make unique and unexpected roles. Similarly, how are planets handled? It sounds, currently, like a vague "this will produce some of this resource" without much concern to what's on the planet. Can you decide what buildings are made and how they act, or do you simply move the slider and things happen?
You can design every ship. I'm going to cut and paste something on the economy here for you:
The main economic work in StarDrive is the acquisition of new planetary colonies. Colonies produce resources that are simplified into 4 categories: food, production, research, and money. Each resource fills a role. Food is consumed every game “turn” by the colonists on your planet. Insufficient food supply leads to starvation and population shrinkage; sufficient food supply allows population growth. The larger a planet’s population, the more resources it can produce. Production of resources generally is tied to planetary population.
“Production” is the resource used to build ships and buildings. For instance, a “mine” building will increase the production of a colony; however, you need production to build a mine. Building up a colony from the initial outpost to an industrial juggernaut involves ensuring that the planet has enough food for the population to grow, and enough production to bootstrap your way up.
So, I tried to model colonization of planets somewhat realistically. When you first get to a planet, you have very little with you, and you are not able to produce very much. However, you can accelerate planetary growth by assigning freighters to carry goods throughout your empire. The freighters are largely automated and will bring food, production, and also new colonists to your recently settled worlds.
Your trade network is therefore vital to properly growing your empire. Consequently, defending your trade network (or attacking your opponents’) is absolutely critical. Research is produced at planets as well with research facilities that you build there. You can choose to focus a planet by building higher-level, more expensive research buildings. You can also trade with alien races to acquire tech.
Finally, buildings and ships all cost money for maintenance. You have to have sufficient population to tax for income, and you can also raise money through trade with alien races and by researching economic improvements.
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Topic: StarDrive - a space 4x that is looking very promising (Read 28831 times)